Harry Potter and the Mystic Squadron
by dudelove85
Summary: Harry Potter is in his sixth year and feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. Unfortunately things are about to get a lot worse. Lord Voldemort has discovered a powerful source of magic and uses it to attack the Magical and Muggle world with fearsome monsters. Harry and his team will unite to combat this force to form the Power Rangers: Mystic Squadron
1. Ancient Seals

_**A/N-**_ _Welcome to the new version of Harry Potter & The Mystic Squadron. I always intended to finish the old version but on review, I really didn't like it anymore. I've been meaning to do a full rewrite but I haven't had the motivation…until now. _

_Anyone familiar with the old version won't notice any major changes to begin with, in fact I'd say 60-70% of the story is largely the same. Few points to note, this story is set after Dino Charge. In addition its set in the same universe as my original Dino Charge story "Heroes Of Their Time". That will be come relevant later on. Hope you like the new version, be patient with it, like I said most of the first few chapters will be fairly similar to the old one._

 _Chapter 1 – Ancient Seals_

The sun was beating down on the Gobi Desert. This remote part of China was amongst the desolate parts of the world but this didn't concern the shadowy figure walking across the sand. The man wore a long black robe that brushed against the ground and in his hand was a small wooden stick. He paused briefly and held the stick in the palm of his hand. It moved all by itself like the needle of a compass, almost like it was pointing him in the direction of his target. After a few minutes, the man came across a small pile of rocks and stopped. Underneath the hood of his robe he smiled before waving his arms in an elaborate gesture. The ground began to rumble as the rocks began to rise out of the sand until they formed an archway, "Perfect", the man hissed before walking through the arch.

In a flash the man had been teleported to another location. The room was lit with a few torches and water periodically dripped down the walls. Lining the walls were crude drawings of five different animals, a red dragon, a lion, a griffin, a unicorn and finally a phoenix. The man lowered his hood, revealing his pale white skin and bald head. His red eyes glowed as he rubbed his bony fingers across some Chinese symbols, "And they said this place was a myth", he snorted.

Lord Voldemort, the fearsome Dark Lord, had spent the last nine months obsessively searching for something to permanently remove the threat of his nemesis. Harry Potter had escaped his grasp at the Department of Mysteries, destroying the only copy of the prophesy in the process. The Dark Lord knew that the prophesy said that Potter possessed a power that he knew not. If he couldn't find out what that power was, then Voldemort would find his own mystical power, the likes of which the Wizarding World had never seen.

During his extensive period of research, he came across a reference to a tribe that lived in China thousands of years ago. According to his research, they could have been the original magical users. Wizards had obsessed for centuries about the origins of magic, numerous rumours littered various historic texts but this was the earliest reference Voldemort had found. Further research told him that the Gormal Tribe hadn't existed for several millennia, however, he did find several references to their possible home. After extensive travelling and numerous dead ends, Voldemort found himself in rural China. Almost as soon as the Dark Lord arrived, he could sense the radiant power coming from nearby.

Now he was in the lost temple of Gormal, a dark dank hole that hardly seemed fitting for the birth place of magic. He allowed the ambient magic of the temple to wash over him and quickly he pinpointed the presence that he sensed from the surface. It was hidden behind a stone wall but that wouldn't stop the most powerful Dark Lord of the century. One _bombarda_ spell later and the wall had been turned to rubble.

Lord Voldemort quickly banished the dust and the larger pieces of debris until he saw something of interest. Behind the wall was an ornate chest that was locked with several giant bolts, "This is it", he said almost with reverence. He tried to pull the locks but nothing happened, even the standard unlocking spells didn't work. "I will not be denied", he boomed and pushed all his magic into the bolts. If Voldemort had stopped for a moment, he would have seen the paintings on the wall glowing behind him.

Suddenly the bolts flew off and the lid of the chest popped open. Voldemort looked inside but he couldn't anything. Crying out with rage, he was about to blast the chest to piece when the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. The Dark Lord felt like all the air in the temple had disappeared as a faint glow began to emanate from the chest. A cloud of smoke and dust shot into the air and engulfed the Dark Lord but something told him not to fight back. He had to stop himself from coughing as the dust entered his body but soon he understood what was happening. He began to laugh manically; the Wizarding World would soon be his.

In a magical town of Hogsmeade in Northern Scotland, three teens exited a carriage and stepped out onto the pathway. The trio were students at the fabled Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, however, they had abandoned their traditional robes for muggle clothing today. The first was a tall red headed male wearing beige trousers and a blue long-sleeved top. Next out the carriage was a girl who was a few inches shorter than the boy. She had bushy brown hair, blue jeans and a yellow jumper. Finally came a messy haired teen with glasses. He wore black jeans and a grey hooded top with a red shirt underneath, "I still don't understand how you persuaded the Professors to let you out today Harry", the girl said to the boy with glasses, "I thought you still had detention for that incident with Malfoy".

"I dunno Hermione", Harry shrugged, "perhaps I got time off for good behaviour".

"Leave him alone", the other boy, Ron, smiled, "isn't there a muggle phrase involving horses that fits this situation".

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth", she recited automatically, "and no I don't know what it means".

"Wow something the great Hermione Granger doesn't know", Harry laughed, "this must be a first". Hermione slapped him on the arm but she was laughing along with Harry and Ron. The trio had been best friends for almost all their time at Hogwarts. Sure, there had been times when they had fallen out but their bond had remained strong for almost six years.

This year had been extremely challenging for all three of them. Classes had been getting harder, hardly surprising considering they were studying towards their NEWTS. There was also the ever looming presence of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eater. Harry was convinced that his long time rival Draco Malfoy had taken the Dark Mark and events had led them to a confrontation in the toilets. Harry had used an unknown curse that nearly killed the Slytherin, earning him several week's worth of detention. He was surprised that he was allowed to visit Hogsmeade at all today but he wasn't about to complain.

Perhaps the biggest strain on their friendship this year had been their romantic interests. Ron had finally dumped Lavender Brown which was a relief for the other two, especially Hermione. Her not so secret crush on Ron was exasperating Harry, almost to the point where he wanted to lock them in a broom closet so they could sort out their feelings. Harry had just begun a relationship with Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister. There had been the usual big brother style threats from Ron but Harry got the impression that his best friend was secretly pleased. He just did a very good job at hiding it.

"Right I think we should have some lunch at the Three Broomsticks before we do anything else", Ron clapped his hands together and marched towards the pub.

"Always thinking of your stomach", Hermione grumbled under her breath, drawing a small laugh from Harry. He suddenly stopped and rubbed his scar, it wasn't painful but Harry could tell something was wrong, "Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I think so", Harry began, "just a bad vibe that's all".

"That's the third time today mate", Ron called out, "I think Dumbledore needs to know about this".

"Yeah I'll do it when we get back", Harry replied absentmindedly. He hadn't told his best friends this but four nights ago, his scar caused him more pain than he had ever experienced before. Something told him that Voldemort was extremely happy but also suffering an extreme amount of pain. He also received some kind of vision but it was confusing, mostly consisting of sand, drawings of magical animals and weird symbols.

Harry remembered telling Professor Dumbledore about this the following day. The aged wizard said nothing initially, just leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face. After several moments he dismissed Harry and thanked him for sharing this information. The teen didn't know what to make of this response but eventually he pushed it to one side.

A few minutes later, the teens were sitting in their usual spot in the Three Broomsticks with a Butterbeer in front of them, "I think I'll have the Shepherd's Pie with extra chips", Ron said as he looked through the menu.

"How can you still be hungry", Harry shook his head, "we only had breakfast two hours ago".

"I'm a growing boy", Ron shrugged.

Suddenly the pub was rocked by several powerful explosions. Wooden splinters flew everywhere, bottles shattered on the floor and all the windows were blown out. The trio threw themselves to the ground as quickly as possible, "Death Eaters?" Harry asked the others.

"Seems like their type of attack", Ron replied.

"But in broad daylight though", Hermione added.

"Well I'm not going to hide in here", Harry announced and quickly ran for the door, closely followed by Ron and Hermione. Outside there were people running in terror and the smell of smoke filled the air. Harry spotted a familiar face heading in his direction, "Neville", he called out, "what's going on?"

Neville Longbottom had a look of fear etched on his face, considering he had faced down a dozen Death Eaters last year told Harry that this was serious. "I'm not sure", Neville stammered, "some kind of creatures, I've never seen anything like it".

"That's the residential area isn't it", Hermione asked her pudgy faced friend.

"Yeah but don't go down there", Neville called out but it was too late, the trio were already halfway down the road.

When they arrived, they found several bodies lying in the street, all residents of Hogsmeade. They looked around expecting to see Death Eaters but instead they were in for a nasty surprise. Marching through the village were dozens of black bodied humanoid creatures. Their bodies were styled to look like a tuxedo which the trio found a little strange. Their dark coloured heads were completely featureless except for a white patch where their mouths should have been, "What the bloody hell are these things?" Ron exclaimed.

"I'm not sure", Hermione replied, "I've never seen anything like them before".

"I don't fancy asking them", Harry pulled out his wand and fired a stunning spell at the nearest creature. To his horror the monster absorbed it without even flinching. He fired another stunning spell but again this had to effect, "Erm little help", he said to the others.

"Love to mate", Ron replied, "but nothing's working on them". Whatever spell they tried, the black suited creatures kept closing in on them. They used everything in their repertoire, apart from an unforgivable but they still kept coming. The nearest creature lunged for Harry but the black haired teen was able to dodge out the way.

"We need to run", Hermione called out and they slowly began to back away.

"No arguments from me", Ron replied and turned around, only to come face to face with more of the creatures. "Come on that's not fair", he cried.

"Quickly between those buildings", Harry pointed to a gap between two burning houses. The trio moved as quickly as they could, shielding themselves from the heat of the fires.

"They're right behind us", Hermione shouted as she looked over her shoulder. One of them grabbed her ankle and she fell face first to the ground.

"Hermione!" Ron cried and stopped to help her up but in the process one of the creatures punched him in the stomach before kicking him in the chest. The red head tumbled down an Earth bank, landing on a pile of branches.

"I've had just about enough of you", Harry said and grabbed a fallen tree branch and smashed it over the head of the nearest creature. It let out a horrible cry and fell to the ground completely immobile. He offered his hand to Hermione and helped her up, "That seems to be the secret", he found a branch and offered it to the girl, "hit them as hard as possible".

"I'm not sure if I can", she stammered.

"They just took out Ron", Harry replied, "use that as motivation".

"I heard my name", Ron crawled up the bank. He had blood pouring out his mouth but he was ready to fight, "that one's mine". He hit the nearest creature so hard that his branch broke in half. Another one tried to sneak up behind the red head but Hermione came to his rescue and smashed her branch across its back.

Ron smiled in appreciation before noticing that another creature was charging in from his right hand side. He lowered his shoulder and flipped the creature over his back. The creature sailed into the air and it landed face first on the ground. Ignoring the pain in his ribs, Ron grabbed a broken branch and stabbed it through the creature's body, permanently immobilising it.

"Alright now what", Hermione began, "we've used all of our weapons".

Harry looked around and his friend was right, there was nothing else to use in the immediate vicinity and they were a long way from safety. As the trio shuffled towards the top of the earth bank away from the dozen or so monsters, frustration grew inside Harry. He was about to die at the hands of these weird looking creatures and he was powerless to save himself or his friends. Three of the black suited creatures jumped towards the trio and instinctively, Harry thrust his hand towards them. To his shock, a small fireball flew out of his hand and struck the creatures. They cried out in pain before turning to ash, "Harry what did you just do?" Ron asked.

The black haired teen looked at his hand, "I have absolutely no idea".

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Rise of The Mystic Squadron

_Chapter 2 – Rise Of The Mystic Squadron_

Harry continued to stare in awe at his hands, he had no idea where that power had come from. It didn't feel like accidental magic, there was something controlled about the ball of fire, almost like it was a natural extension of his body. He was soon snapped back to reality as more of the black suited monsters closed in, "Now would be a good time to break out your new trick mate", Ron gave his friend a nudge in the shoulder.

Harry nodded and thrust his arm forward but this time nothing happened. He tried again but there wasn't even a hint of flame, "Any time Harry", Hermione hissed.

"I'm trying", Harry replied, "but I don't even know what I did the first time". The weird creatures continued to move towards them, buoyed by the fact that Harry couldn't replicate his previous attack. "Alright new plan", he began, "run away", he turned quickly and slid down the earth bank to the field below.

They had moved away from the settlement and into an overgrown field. The thick grass made it difficult to run but fortunately the creatures chasing them had the same problem. The trio hadn't explored this part of the village before and they had no idea where they were going. They could see Hogwarts in the distance they decided to head in that general direction.

Slowly but surely the black suited creatures were catching up. Harry twisted his body around and fired a blasting curse at the ground behind him. His magic wasn't having a direct effect on these creatures but if he could damage the ground then they might not be able to catch up with them so quickly. Several of the creatures tripped over and tumbled into the weeds, taking a few more of their friends with them. Unfortunately, this didn't deter the rest of the creatures and they kept coming.

Soon they reached a small stream, the bed of which was lined with several large rocks. Harry and Ron cleared the stream but Hermione wasn't so lucky. She caught her foot on a rock and fell face first into the water. Her clothes were soaked and her hands were cut in several places where she had tried to break her fall.

The two boys turned around and saw their friend struggling to stand up. As four of the creatures closed in on the teenage girl, Ron felt angrier than he had ever felt before and all his rage was focused on the monsters. Suddenly the creatures shot up into the air, like they had been hit with an overpowered levitation spell. The trio looked up and they couldn't even see where their attackers had gone, "Did I do that?" Ron said with a hushed voice.

"Something weird is going on", Hermione replied as she finally pulled herself out of the stream. She looked down at her legs and winced, her knees were bleeding and there were a few blood patches on her jeans.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked the girl.

"Just peachy Ronald", she snapped and began to wring the water out of her hair. She paused as in the distance more of the creatures were closing in, "They just won't give us a break", she cried.

"Come on, we're nearly there", Harry said. Hogwarts was looming large on the horizon and if they could get inside the wards, maybe they would be safe. The trio started running again, although Hermione had an obvious limp. Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her along to help with their escape.

The castle was close and for the first time since they were attacked, the trio's hopes finally soared. Those hopes were soon dashed as they were suddenly faced with a huge problem. Hogwarts was right in front of them but between them and safety was a vast chasm at least a hundred feet wide, "How the hell are we going to get across there?" Ron asked his friends.

Harry looked around but there was no obvious way to cross over to the castle. If they followed the cliff they might come across a bridge but that was a long shot at best. If they had a broom they could fly across but even if they could summon some from the castle, the creatures chasing them would catch up before they arrived. "We'll just have to keep running around", Harry began, "it's not the best plan but it's all I've got right now".

Suddenly a couple of creatures burst out of the undergrowth and jumped towards Ron and Hermione. The girl's eyes widened as the creature closed in on their position. Almost instinctively she grabbed Ron and pulled him away from the cliff face. Everything seemed to slow down for her as the creatures sailed past them and over the edge of the cliff. Hermione stopped moving and to her surprise, they were several feet away from where they had started. "Hermione", Harry gasped, "I've never seen you move so quickly".

The girl struggled for words for a moment before replying, "It was like everything slowed down".

"Maybe you could use that super speed to get us out of here", Ron added.

"I wish I could", Hermione began, "but I have no idea how I did that". Things were getting weird for the teens, all of them had exhibited signs of unusual accidental magic that they couldn't control.

Just when they thought the day couldn't get stranger, there was a animalistic shriek from the skies above them. Descending through the clouds was a giant red dragon but it wasn't like any they had seen before. At first glance, it appeared to be a Chinese dragon with red skin and a few black patches around the legs, however, instead of the usual scales, the dragon's skin looked like it was made of metal. Its eyes glowed bright yellow as it swooped down towards the teens. They braced for impact but to their surprise the dragon went straight for the creatures chasing them.

"I've never seen a dragon like it", Ron gasped, "Charlie would love this".

"It almost looks like a robot", Hermione frowned, "but that doesn't make any sense". The dragon opened its mouth and incinerated the creatures with a powerful jet of fire. With the danger passed, the dragon turned towards the teens. Almost automatically they pulled out their wands, even though they knew it would be largely futile. The dragon's eyes shone brightly again, bathing them in a yellow beam of light. Before they could blink, they had disappeared from the cliff before landing with a hard thump on a solid stone surface.

Their arrival hadn't been the smoothest, their bodies were tangled together making it difficult to stand up, "Ah I should have known you three would be involved", a kindly and familiar voice called out. It took them a few moments to recognise where they were, they had landed in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

After much pushing they untangled themselves and slowly got to their feet. They looked over and saw Headmaster Albus Dumbledore sitting behind his desk. He gave them a small smile and pulled out his wand to summon three comfy looking chairs. The Headmaster paused and took a couple of deep breathes as a pained expression briefly appeared on his face. The trio frowned, the Headmaster was looking gaunt and pale. The elderly man still exuded a powerful magical presence. The look of pain soon passed, "Sit down please", he continued, "we have got a lot to talk about".

Cautiously the teens took a seat and waited for the old man to speak, "Before I explain what happened in Hogsmeade today, I need to give you a history lesson", Dumbledore began, "do any of you know where magic originally came from?"

Harry and Ron's heads immediately snapped towards Hermione but even the brightest witch of her generation was stumped, "I thought not", the Headmaster continued, "it's a fascinating story but as time is for the essence I will give you the short version". He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, "Six thousand years ago there were two tribes who lived in an area now located in China, the Reesha and the Gormal. They used a rudimentary yet powerful form of magic known as Chi".

"I thought Chi was just a myth", Hermione asked, "ancient superstitions".

"To be fair Hermione, you probably thought magic was a myth until six years ago", Harry smiled.

Albus ignored this exchange and continued his story, "For reasons that have been lost to history, the Gormal Tribe attacked the Reesha and threatened to destroy them. That was until five warriors with incredible Chi power and the help of their magical beast guardians defeated the Gormal and sealed them away". Dumbledore paused for a moment before continuing, "The five warriors and the rest of the Reesha scattered across the world and laid the foundations of several magical societies around the world".

"Sorry to interrupt Professor", Harry began, "but what does this have to do with black suited creatures and metal dragons?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "So eager to get to the point as usual Harry. The creatures that attacked you are called Cedals and they are the footsoldiers of the Gormal". Dumbledore paused for a moment, "It would seem that someone has found the resting place of the Gormal Tribe and brought them back to life".

The trio looked amongst themselves nervously for a moment, "Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"I don't know for certain but all the information I have draws me towards that conclusion", the Headmaster sighed.

"This is just great", Ron threw his hands up in the air, "not only has V-Voldemort added to his band of psycho's but we have no way to stop them, our magic didn't even touch them".

"Chi is a rawer form of magic", Dumbledore replied, "to the well trained it is also much more powerful and that is why normal magic won't work on the Gormal. Fortunately, only a limited number of people have access to this type of power". He opened a drawer and pulled out a wooden box. "Now there is a way to stop them Mr WeasIey. I have suspected this for a long time but today confirmed it for me". He paused again as his piercing blue eyes scanned the teens, "You three are descendants of those five ancient warriors and have inherited their Chi powers".

"Erm Professor", Hermione raised her hand, "but how can we be descended from five Chinese warriors, all of our families are from Britain".

"Six thousand years is a long time Miss Granger", Dumbledore smiled, "you can travel a long way in that time. I also know a little about what muggles call genetics and a lot of the psychical characteristics would have been bred out of your genes in that time".

A feeling of dread washed over Harry as he thought about Dumbledore's story, "What powers did these warriors have?" he asked.

"Each of them had their own speciality, control over wind and the human mind were two of them", Dumbledore answered. "The other three warriors controlled time, gravity and fire respectively". The trio thought back to their running battle with the Cedals and the strange powers they had exhibited. "I see the pieces are finally falling into place", Dumbledore smiled. "Like accidental magic, you experienced outbursts of Chi energy due to your highly stressful and emotional states at the time. With proper training you will be able to call on these powers without too much effort".

"Are you going to train us Sir?" Hermione asked.

A broad smile appeared on Dumbledore's face and he broke out into laughter, "No Miss Granger, unfortunately I do not have the require experience to teach you. Your guide to Chi power will reveal themselves in time. Until then, these will help harness your natural Chi power". He opened the box to reveal five pairs of muggle looking technology. One half of the devices had a black screen with a golden motif around the edges. The other half of the device was coloured differently on each piece, either red, blue, yellow, green or pink. At one end was a small metal ring, "These are your Mana Morphers", Dumbledore continued, "they will enable you to morph into Power Rangers".

"Power Rangers?" Hermione spluttered, "like the various teams seen in America in the last 20 years".

"Indeed Miss Granger", Dumbledore smiled. He gave the blue morpher to Ron, the yellow to Hermione and finally the red one to Harry. "I'm sorry to burden you with something else Harry", the old man continued, "but unfortunately the red dragon has chosen you to lead the team. I believe you met him today so you know how scary he can be".

Harry gulped and looked at the weird device in his hand. Once again fate had dealt him a cruel hand, "What about the other two morphers?" he asked the Headmaster.

"Until we find our green and pink ranger they will remain dormant", Dumbledore smiled, "but I don't think they will keep us waiting for too long.

The teens attached the morphers to their wrists and were stunned to see them disappear. They thought about them again and they reappeared in a flash. They were amazing, a perfect harmony of muggle technology and magic, "How do you know all this Sir", Ron began, "and how did these come into your possession?"

"Excellent questions Mr Weasley but sadly those answers will have to wait for another time", Dumbledore replied. "You have been trusted with a great responsibility, I trust that you will not misuse your new powers". He stood up and walked towards the door, "We will go through how the morphers work tomorrow. Now I suggest that you go and get cleaned up, today has been a long day".

The teens shuffled out the Headmaster's office, giving their new morphers curious looks as they descended the spiral staircase. All three of them were having the same thought simultaneously, what on earth had they gotten themselves into now?


	3. Reluctant Allies

_Chapter 3 – Reluctant Allies_

The following morning Harry sat alone at the Gryffindor common room nervously fiddling with the morpher strapped to his wrist. It was still early and no one else had ventured out from their dormitories yet. He hadn't had a great night's sleep, all of his dreams were dominated by the weird looking Cedals. Eventually he had got out of bed and sat by the dying embers of the common room fireplace.

He kept replaying the conversation with Professor Dumbledore from the previous evening in his head. The old man had told them everything yet next to nothing about how he and four other rangers could fight Voldemort and his new army of monsters. The Headmaster hadn't even told him how to active the morphers. Once again he was left to fumble blindly in the dark against the forces of evil.

"Harry put that away", He heard Hermione hiss under her breath. Harry jolted back into the present and noticed his two best friends crossing the common room in his direction. No one else was with them but choosing discretion he quickly pulled his shirt sleeve over the device.

"Sorry I guess I got a little distracted", he sighed. Harry looked into the weary eyes of his two best friends as that plopped themselves down on the chairs around the fire, "Neither of you could sleep either?" he asked.

"How could we with everything that's been thrown at us", Ron began, "plus I kept having weird dreams about one of those robot things".

"Another dragon?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Nah this one kinda looked like a unicorn, except it rolled along the ground", Ron replied, "you reckon it's related?"

"It wouldn't surprise me", Hermione answered, "in fact I reckon they're our zords".

Ron leaned raised his head and looked at the girl, "What the hell are zords?"

"Have neither of you heard of the Power Rangers before?" Hermione asked. Both boys shook their heads, "then there's probably something you should see".

For the first time Harry noticed the bushy haired girl's school bag at her feet. She reached inside and pulled out something Harry wasn't expecting to see inside the grounds of the school, "Is that a tablet?" he asked, "Hermione you of all people should know that muggle technology doesn't work inside the school".

"Of course I do", she snapped, "but I've been working on something that could stop magic from shorting out small devices like mobile phones or tablets". She tapped her wand against the tablet and muttered something under her breath, "It's still a work in progress so, fingers crossed".

Hermione pushed a button on the side and after a few tense seconds, the tablet burst into life, "No way", Ron gasped, "this must have taken you ages to figure out", he added, gawping slightly at the unfamiliar technology.

"Almost since I started at Hogwarts", Hermione confessed, "a Ravenclaw muggleborn put the idea in my head, it's taken six years and countless burned out mobile phones and mp3 players just to get this far".

A few taps on the screen later, a video began to play showing numerous teams of brightly coloured heroes battling against monstrous creatures. The designs and colours of the suits changed periodically but the teens got the general idea about previous Ranger teams. The video soon showed humongous creatures, "Hold on, we have to fight giant monsters as well", Ron grabbed a pillow and buried his face in the fabric.

"Sadly that's also a common theme with the Power Rangers", Hermione sighed, "usually they get a fleet of vehicles known as zords which allows them to fight the giant monsters".

"See this is exactly the type of stuff that Dumbledore should've told us yesterday", Harry groaned. He turned to his bushy haired friend and added, "You know an awful lot about these Power Rangers".

Hermione blushed slightly before answering, "Personal interest project", she mumbled, "when I was younger my parents and I were on holiday in America. We decided to visit a city called Briarwood but unbeknown to us, the city was constantly under attack by monsters and demons". She glanced at the video just as a new team of Rangers appears, only these ones were wearing capes, "This was the first time I encountered magic when I was rescued by the Mystic Force Power Rangers".

"You've met other Power Rangers?" Ron asked, "No way, what were they like?"

"Well I didn't meet them", Hermione replied, "a couple of them saved my parents and I from a monster. Ever since that day I've tried to find out as much as I could about the other team".

Harry nodded in approval, "Well at least we've got some knowledge to fall back on", suddenly and without warning the tablet flashed with a small explosion. The screen cracked and smoke gently billowed from the device, "Doesn't look like we're going to get any more help from that", he added and pointed at the tablet.

"Like I said, it's a work in progress", Hermione sighed and banished as much of the smoke away as she could.

Further conversation about the Power Rangers was halted by footsteps from the girl's staircase. Moment later a familiar red head jumped down the final few steps and strode in their direction, "Hey Harry", Ginny Weasley smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Not in front of me please", Ron said, returning his face behind the cushion in his hand.

"Piss off Ron", Ginny replied, "you three are up early".

"Yeah I didn't even hear you leave the dorm", the other new arrival Neville added, "I would've thought that you would want to lay in after your adventure yesterday".

"Nightmares", Harry replied quickly, "couldn't get the image of those weird creatures out of my head all night".

"Why does all the exciting stuff happen to you three?" Ginny laughed. The morning deliveries began to arrive through an open window in the Tower and an owl swopped down over the group, dropping a heavy bundle of newspapers in front of them, "I see the Sunday Prophet is full rubbish as usual", the redhead groaned as she tipped several advertising leaflets onto the floor. Hermione took the paper from her friend and began to scan the front page.

"Does it say anything about the attack on Hogsmeade?" Neville asked.

"Not a huge amount", Hermione replied, "just that they suspect it was the work of Voldemort and the Death Eaters". Harry looked away nervously, strictly speaking that was true but the Prophet didn't know the half of it. "They don't even mention those weird suited creatures at all", the brown haired teen added.

"Probably don't want to let on that the Ministry doesn't know what attacked the village", Harry snorted. Suddenly there was a sharp burning sensation coming from his left wrist, he looked across and saw that Hermione and Ron had experienced the same thing.

"Are you alright Harry?" Ginny asked, her bespectacled boyfriend was violently rubbing his wrist.

"Yeah just a sudden touch of cramp", Harry smiled. Another owl swooped down and stopped in front of Harry. He removed the piece of parchment and read the message, "It's from Dumbledore", he began, "he wants to see me, Hermione and Ron in his office about the attack yesterday".

"Well no point keeping him waiting", Hermione said quickly and grabbed hold of Ron, dragging him behind her. The trio quickly jumped off the sofa, leaving their confused friends behind.

"So what does the message say", Ron asked as soon as they were out of Gryffindor Tower. Harry showed the piece of parchment to his friends, "Insert the ring into the other half of the morpher and the activation phrase is Mystic Squadron, Transform", they looked at each other, "what does that even mean?"

"Must be how we activate the morphers", Hermione theorised, "now if only we knew how to get to the attack". The trio kept looking at their morphers until they found a small button on the side. With a flash of light and a small pop, they disappeared from Hogwarts.

Unseen by the trio, someone was watching them the entire time. The shadowy figure shook their head and until they too disappeared in a flash of light.

The attack was taking place in a small muggle village in the Highlands of Scotland. There were several residential properties nestling between a few local shops. On the main road through the village was a small park that was lined with trees. The usually quiet road was echoing to the sounds of terror as the residents ran through the streets as another platoon of Cedals destroyed everything in sight.

A small pop echoed from a small alley as Harry, Hermione and Ron landed in a heap, "That was unpleasant", Harry groaned, "why is all magical transportation horribly uncomfortable?" It was different to the squeezing sensation of apparition. It felt like their entire bodies had been stretched from head to toe as they were pulled into the air before being dumped back on the ground.

Ron quickly got to his feet and peeked around the corner, the Cedals had set fire to several properties. Fortunately it looked like all the residents had managed to escape the area, "I think the coast is clear", he said, "well except for the sharply dressed killer monsters".

Swallowing their fear and summoning that famous Gryffindor courage, the trio stepped out into the main street as confidently as they could, "Hey stop right there", Harry called out. The Cedals immediately turned around to face the trio and began moving towards them, "I did not think that through", he sighed.

"We can do this", Hermione tried to rally the boys.

"Don't really have much choice do we", Ron grumbled.

The trio flicked their right wrist and the attachment on the morpher extended a few inches. They raised the other half of their morpher until it was level with their chests, "Mystic Squadron, Transform", they called in unison and inserted the ring into the morpher.

Almost instantly there was a bright flash of light, blinding the Cedals. When the light cleared, three colourfully suited warriors stood opposite them. The bottom half of the suits were one solid colour with a white stripe around the top of the boots. The rangers chests were white with a gold stripe going vertically down the suit to their waists where it met a gold coloured belt. Like the boots, the gloved were the same colours as the suit with a white stripe around the top. Finally the three new rangers wore helmets that were themed after a different magical creature.

"Bloody hell", Ron gasped as he looked down at his blue costume, "I can't believe that actually worked".

"Not sure if I'm a fan of this though", the yellow ranger groaned. Hermione tugged on the helm of a small white skirt, trying to make it more comfortable.

"Alright", Harry, the red ranger, began, "now what". Silence descended amongst the trio, none of them knew how to use any of the weapons or the Chi power that these suits were supposed to give them.

The Cedals though weren't going to wait for the trio to decide and charged towards them. Harry's eyes widened underneath his helmet as one of the footsoldiers aimed a punch in his direction. The years of torment at the hands of his cousin meant that he was able to dodge the attack but his weak counter punch didn't to a lot of damage, "Erm, little help", he cried.

"Bit busy right now", Hermione responded as she nervously backed away from a couple of Cedals. Her parents had taken her to a few karate lessons when she was ten but she gave them up after enrolling at Hogwarts. Right now she was desperately trying to remember some of the kata's, "Was it left leg forward first or right", he muttered to herself. The Cedal jumped towards her and Hermione shrieked with surprise. She sidestepped the attack and used the momentum of the creature to throw it into a nearby building, "Hey I actually did it", but her celebration was premature. Another Cedal kicked her in the side, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Ron immediately jumped to her defence and stood protectively in front of his friend. "Dumbledore said these Chi powers were activated by emotion", he began, "right now I'm really annoyed at you". He thrust his hand out, expecting something to happen but nothing did. "Come on work", he cried but still his gravity power wouldn't work.

As the battle continued on the ground, some hidden up one of the trees in the park observing the first outing of the Mystic Squadron rangers with mixed feelings. She was a teenage girl with long dark hair and a dark school robe with the crest of Ravenclaw. Underneath her robe she wore a white patterned t-shirt, pink jeans and a pair of white trainers, "These are my new team mates", she sighed, "they're useless"

The assessment was a little harsh, the new Rangers were landing some attacks against the Cedals. was blatantly obvious that none of them had received any training or even been aware of their heritage until recently. Her close affinity with Chi Power allowed her to sense a spike in power yesterday evening. The logical conclusion she drew was that the trio only discovered their power mere hours ago. Despite that, she would've expected them to be able to do more than run around like headless chickens.

She could've jumped in at any time in the last few minutes but if she was honest, she was enjoying watching the Cedals kick them around a bit. Finally she decided to take pity on them, "Great, Weasley's found his Star Blaster", she grumbled, "I'd better stop him before he blows his hand off". The teen gracefully walked along the branch until she reached the end. He jumped high into the air and down to the ground, completing a somersault in the process.

"Careful with that", Hermione cried as Ron blasted another hole in a building, "we're meant to stop things from getting destroyed, not cause them ourselves".

"What do you even call this thing?" the blue ranger asked and accidentally fired another blast. This time he did destroy a couple of Cedals rather than someone's home.

Suddenly the rangers and the Cedals were pushed back but a gust of wind as someone landed between them. The trio could almost feel the Chi energy rolling off this newcomer as her black hair whipped around in the wind that she appeared to be generating. The robed figure waived her arms and a strong gust of pink energy knocked the Cedals off their feet. She discarded her school robe and turned to face the other rangers, "You?" Harry cried, "you're part of this team?"

"Apparently so", she sighed, "looks like you could use all the help you can get", she added with a smirk. A Cedal tried to jump her from behind but she disabled it with a spinning kick to the head. "Now let me show you how it's done", the rangers suddenly noticed a pair of morphers on her wrists, "Mystic Squadron, Transform". In a flash she had morphed into a pink ranger, complete with white skirt and a helmet in the theme of a Phoenix. She pulled a small red stick from one of the holsters and it expanded into a bow staff. She twirled it expertly in front of her before charging into battle.

The others look on in awe at their new team mate as she began to dismantle the Cedals with a fluid motion and grace. As good as she was, inside the trio were all thinking the same thing; Out of everyone in the world, why did their pink ranger have to be Cho Chang?


	4. Rock You Like A Hurricane

_Chapter 4 – Rock You Like A Hurricane_

None of the trio wanted to admit it out loud but their new pink ranger was pretty good. They watched her cartwheel away from a couple of Cedals before striking them down with her rod. "Star Rod, Wind Power", she called out and twisted the object in front of her body. A strong breeze began to whip up in front of the pink ranger and several of the Cedals were catapulted into the nearby trees. With a strong upward thrust Cho slapped another Cedal away with her Star Rod. She followed this up by twisting her body and jamming her staff into another footsoldiers body.

"Where did she learn how to do this?" Harry mused out loud.

"She's not that good", Ron snorted. They watched as the pink ranger began to get overwhelmed by the number of Cedals. A couple of them succeeded in blocking an attack from the girl and grabbed her arms. With an effortless flick they tossed the pink ranger away and she landed in a heap next to the others.

Hermione knelt down next to Cho and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You can't take them all on yourself", the yellow ranger stated.

"I didn't see you rushing to help", she snapped in response and pushed away the younger girl's arms.

"Well we don't really know what we're doing", Harry replied with a hint of impatience.

"Yeah that much is obvious", Cho grumbled before taking a deep breath. Whether she liked it or not, they were all on the same side so getting frustrated wouldn't solve anything. The Cedals were beginning to lose interest in the group and were returning to their destructive rampage. "Alright quick crash course", she began, "you have three primary weapons, a Star Blaster which is a little bit like a muggle firearm, a Star Dagger which is exactly as described and a Star Rod which you've just seen me use".

"You make it sound so easy", Ron shook his head.

"I assume you know that you have different elemental abilities", Cho continued, ignoring the sarcasm from the blue ranger. "I want you to keep your element in the forefront of your mind at all times, it'll help you focus your Chi power until you can be taught some more advanced techniques".

The others were a little sceptical but decided to follow the advance of the pink ranger. After a few moments concentrating on their different elements, they could feel the difference. Their bodies almost hummed with power and energy, like they were one with their new powers. They were able to sense the sources of negative Chi in the area and it surrounded the Cedals like an oppressive cloak.

Harry stepped forward purposefully and pulled his Star Rod out from its holster. He could feel the power of fire burning through his body and he wanted to put it to good use again these annoying footsoldiers, "Hey Cedals", he shouted. The black suited creatures immediately turned in his direction, "your time's up", his Star Rod ignited with fire at the tips and he quickly advanced towards the nearest enemies.

With new found confidence, the red ranger quickly eliminated two Cedals after hitting them with the burning tip of his weapon. As a third charged towards him, he adjusted his grip and buried his Star Rod into the abdomen of the Cedal. Drawing on his Chi power he lifted the creature up into the air and tossed it away from the battle sight. "Let's see if this works", Harry said and pushed his free hand towards the monsters, "Fire Blast", he called. Just like the previous day, a small ball of fire hit the footsoldiers and they slowly burned to a crisp. He paused for a moment to catch his breath and looked over to see how the others were doing.

Ron decided not to bother with his Star Rod, instead he wanted to see how he would fight with a dagger instead. The blade of the dagger was white and there was a red and white handle around the hilt of the weapon. The blue ranger tapped into his Chi power and jumped high into the air. He aimed for the middle of a small group of Cedal and twisted in the air. The dagger cut through the chests of the monsters and they collapsed to the ground in defeat, "That was bloody fantastic", Ron gasped. Suddenly he sensed two more Cedal trying to sneak up behind him. He twisted around and swiped the air in front of him, "Grav Shot", he called and the two creatures shot high into the air, never to be seen again.

The yellow ranger had a guilty secret that she hadn't told the others about. Hermione had realised that her decision making under pressure wasn't great and needed to find a way to improve this. Without being able to use magic her options were limited but then she had an idea. The local video game arcade would be a good way to train her reactions and her aim in the event of another magical battle. She had gotten pretty good over the last two months, earning a high score that no one had beaten. Fortunately this simulated success was translating into skill with her Star Blaster and she hit the black suited creatures every time. "This is moving too slowly", she muttered, "Time Fast". Her movement were suddenly accelerated but even with this burst of speed, Hermione was still a crack shot with her blaster. When her last opponent was defeated she paused to survey her handiwork and a small smile formed under her helmet.

For Cho this was just another extension of her training sessions. For the last ten years, her uncle prepared her in case the Gormal were released from her prison. According to the stories that had been passed down through her family, each of the five ancient warriors were supposed to be responsible for training a successor. As time passed and with no sign of the Gormal, the old ways were slowly forgotten by the other families until just her descendants were left. The others drifted away from their Chi powers until all record of them were lost into the mists of time. "I will not disappoint you uncle", Cho said firmly and began to spin her Star Rod. "Twister", she called and a pink funnel of air began to move towards the Cedals. They were sucked up in the mini tornado and scattered across the remains of the village.

"Alright I think that's the last of them", Harry called out. The red ranger wasn't feeling great and he suddenly sunk to his knees. He gasped for air before his morph failed and he was left kneeling in the dirt. His vision was a little fuzzy but he could see that Ron and Hermione were having the same difficulty. "Try to relax", Cho said softly to them, "you're not used to expending this much Chi in one go".

"You don't seem to be effected", Hermione gasped between her shallow breathes.

"I've been training for years", she replied, "give me your morphers", the pink ranger added. The others looked at her in confusion, "I'm going to transport you to my training room back at Hogwarts". The trio reluctantly offered their left arms, the pink ranger teleported Ron then Hermione before finally taking Harry back herself.

Harry wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, his body felt like he'd been asleep for several days. Stretching his weary muscles, he slowly returned to consciousness. His vision was a little blurry but he soon realised that he didn't have his glasses on. Once they were in place he looked around and found himself on a bed in what he assumed was Hogwarts. There were a couple of other beds next to his but they were currently unoccupied. The room had stuff similar to muggle exercise equipment. In the centre of the room was a large padded mat with a couple of staffs sitting in the middle.

"Welcome back", he heard Cho say from behind him. Harry turned around and the pink ranger was standing over him with a glass in her hand. She had changed into a pair of black leggings, trainers and a pink t-shirt. "Try some of this, it'll give you an energy boost", the older teen added with a neutral expression on her face.

Harry smelt the drink cautiously before taking a sip. He immediately recoiled from the overly sweet tasting liquid, "What the hell is this?"

"An old Chang family recipe", she smiled, "we call it wake up juice. It's disgusting but it gets the job done".

The red ranger said nothing and took another few sips. To his surprise he was beginning to feel a little more energetic, "Where's Ron and Hermione?" he asked.

"Getting changed", Cho responded, "we're going to have a training session in my personal gym", she opened her arms to indicate to the room they were standing in. Cho grabbed something from the bottom of the bed and threw it over to Harry, "Drink up, meeting's starting in ten minutes" and she turned away from the red ranger without saying another word.

Just over ten minutes later the four rangers were sitting on the mat facing each other. Harry, Ron and Hermione felt a little uncomfortable in their new training clothes, much to the amusement of the pink ranger. "Let's start with some basic stretches", Cho began, "get ourselves warmed up".

"Erm sorry but you still haven't explained where we are or how you've got all this stuff", Ron interrupted the older teen.

Cho sighed, "My uncle was an old friend of Professor Dumbledore. When I started Hogwarts, he explained my training requirements and the Headmaster agreed to set up a training room in an old classroom on the fifth floor. It's protected against anyone who doesn't have Chi power".

Slowly the pieces were coming together for the younger teens, that would explain why Professor Dumbledore was aware of the general Gormal threat. "Yeah but muggle exercising", Ron interrupted the silence, "surely there's better ways of training".

"Chi power doesn't just come from our magical cores", Cho answered, "but also from our mind and bodies". She chuckled to herself, "It's ironic that Pureblood extremists have been searching for the secrets of Chi for centuries but they would never be able to access it without adopting some muggle principles towards exercise".

"It's one thing I've noticed about the magical world", Hermione began, "there's not a lot of physical activity or sport in general. Sure, you need stamina to play Quidditch but it's nothing compared to a marathon runner".

"Exactly my point and it's because of your lack of stamina, strength and endurance that you all passed out after the battle today", Cho stated. "It shouldn't take too many sessions to prevent that from happening again but it will take a few weeks to get you to my level".

"Just a few weeks, I thought you'd been training for years", Harry smirked.

Cho shook her head at the thinly veiled attack on her, "The wonderful thing about Chi is that it's all about balance. It doesn't like people on the same side who are too weak or too powerful. Either we'll all get dragged up to the same level as the strongest or we'll all fall down to match the weakest".

"We're only as strong as our weakest link", Hermione tried to summarise.

"Mostly", Cho shrugged, "you all need to work hard because I don't want to get dragged down to your level".

Ron snorted, "You're loving this aren't you, lording it over us with your special powers".

Cho took a deep breath, "Alright let's get this out in the open, you're not my favourite people in the world but there's worse people to be teamed up with".

"Like your sneaky friend Marietta", Ron smirked.

"Ron", Harry and Hermione hissed.

The pink ranger was struggling to keep control of her temper, "Marietta had her family threatened by Umbridge, they could've lost their jobs".

"Some things are more important than some stupid job", Ron countered.

"The world's so bloody black and white for you isn't it Weasley", Cho's annoyance with the blue ranger boiled over. "Your little stunt with the parchment has permanently disfigured her. You probably would've been better off cutting off a limb, at least that could've been magically replaced".

Hermione sensed a retort coming from the blue ranger so she tapped into her new found speed to zip across the mat and clamp a hand over his mouth. "Look I'm sorry about her face", the yellow ranger apologised, "but the stakes were high for us as well. Umbridge was more than willing to use the Cruciatus, who knows what else she would've done to get her way". Hermione paused for a couple of moments before adding, "I'll see if I can find a counter curse to help Marietta out".

The pink ranger looking at the brown haired girl for a few moments before responding with a small nod. "Now we've got that out the way", Harry began, "perhaps we should think about trying to find our green ranger", he turned to the pink ranger, "any ideas that could help us find them?"

"The green ranger's powers are probably the most magical based of them all", Cho responded. "They're based on illusions so they will probably be hard to find". She raised her morpher to chest level, "The green morpher should react to its own so that should help us find him or her".

Hermione nodded, "So why don't we take a piece each and search the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw dorms tonight", she suggested. "At least we can eliminate half the school by tomorrow".

"I really hope that it isn't a Slytherin", Ron muttered until his breath.

"Alright we can reconvene here after breakfast", Harry said to the others.

"Good idea", Cho stood up, "but that's not getting you out of training tonight". She grabbed a bow staff, "I think that Weasley needs some help fighting with a bow". Ron gulped and stood up nervously and faced off against the pink ranger. Their team had now expanded to four but it there were still tensions between the Gryffindors and the seventh year Ravenclaw. Hopefully whoever the green ranger, they wouldn't add create any further tension within the group.


	5. The Forgotten Lion

_Chapter 5 –The Forgotten Lion_

The ballroom of Malfoy Manor was a quintessential arena of luxury. The room played host to the rich and powerful of the wizarding world over the last few centuries. But much like the Malfoy family themselves you would see hints of the clan's darker tendencies. Dotted around the ballroom were several artefacts that the Ministry would classify as questionable. The Malfoy's weren't stupid enough to keep their darker items on public display, these were usually stored in one of Lucius' extensive cellars. Today though, several of these artefacts were strewn across the ballroom floor as the Dark Lord continued his research.

After returning from China, Lord Voldemort had locked himself away in the guest house of Malfoy Manor and begun to experiment with his new powers. They were significantly stronger than his own magic and it took several frustrating days until he had them fully under control. From his own experiences, the Gormal were experts in causing pain and suffering to others. One curse in particular caused indescribable suffering to one of his new recruits. A small burst of Chi had caused enough pain for the young man's body to simply stop functioning within a matter of moments.

With his new powers came his army of Cedals, soulless creatures that existing for no other purpose than to destroy. Hogsmeade had been severely damaged along with another muggle village in the space of a couple of days. The one thing he wasn't expecting was the appearance of these so called Power Rangers. Like himself they too held some sort of control over Chi energy. The Cedals couldn't provide him with much feedback about their powers so he needed something that could communicate more effectively with him.

After spending much of the day searching he found a reference to the Gormal nobility, soldiers that were much strong than the usual Cedals. If the footsoldiers had survived for thousands of years then surely the nobility could have as well. Voldemort pushed up his left sleeve and touched his wand against his Dark Mark. Within seconds Lucius Malfoy appeared in the ballroom, "You requested my presence my Lord", Lucius said bowed respectfully.

The Dark Lord smirked to himself at the fear in Lucius' eyes. With his Chi power, Voldemort was more feared than ever by his followers, "Rise Lucius", he began, "round up ten of the new recruits. Tell them that they have been chosen for a special assignment".

"If I might ask, what is this assignment?" Lucius replied nervously.

"That is none of your concern", Voldemort replied coolly, "I don't appreciate people questioning my orders Lucius", the Dark Lord held up a hand and they began to crackle with energy. Lucius' eyes widened and in moments he hurried out of the ballroom, fearful that he would be on the receiving end of the Dark Lord's new torturing methods. As soon as the door closed, Voldemort chuckled to himself before returning to his books.

 _Hundreds of miles away t_ he rangers spent the previous evening searching for the fifth and final member of their team, however, they had drawn a blank. The Gryffindor trio had checked as many people as they could in the common room, leading to several embarrassing moments. After Ron received a slap around the face from Lavender Brown, they had called it a night. She had been convinced that the blue ranger had groped her backside, but he was actually trying to get his morpher as close to the girl as possible. Unfortunately, he tripped at the wrong moment and bumped into the blonde haired girl, leading to the embarrassing situation. Cho also failed in her search of the Ravenclaw common room but she had eliminated all of the seventh years and the majority of the sixth years.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had picked up the search the following morning, eliminating most of their class mates. They were beginning to lose hope that the green ranger was someone they knew. So far Neville, Seamus, Luna, the Patels, Lavender, Susan Bones, Ernie McMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott had been ruled out. Harry was especially disappointed when the green morpher didn't react to Ginny. With each Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw they crossed off, it became more likely that the green ranger could be a Slytherin.

Their search was interrupted by a Gormal alert and despite Ron's protests that the attack was taking place over lunch time, they apparated away. Their landing was a little smoother this time but the sound of terrified screaming was very familiar from last time. It took them a few moments to deduce they weren't in a small village this time. Hermione spotted the castle up on a hill overlooking the city and quickly confirmed they were in Scotland's capital city Edinburgh. The source of the disturbance was coming from the distant Edinburgh Castle and smoke was billowing into the air from the ancient monument.

The quartet quickly morphed and apparated a little closer to the castle to investigate. When they arrived, they were confronted by something stranger looking than the Cedals. The creature causing the trouble had a golden body and looked human from the chest down. Instead of a head though was a metal hoop with what looked like a long knotted pipe wrapped around his chest and arms. "Ah rangers so we meet as last", the creature began, "I am Baron Knotnus", he added with a smooth, polite tone.

"Ever heard of anything like him before", Harry whispered to the pink ranger.

"Yes and it means bad news", Cho replied, "monsters like this are significantly stronger than Cedals".

"Oh you wound me pink ranger", Knotnus called. The monster fired something from the end of his arm that looked like a rope. The rangers rolled out the way and it struck the ground, kicking up dirt in the process.

"Come on, we can handle this guy", Ron said with confidence and called on his Star Rod. The blue ranger had spent a good portion of the previous evening practicing and was keen to show off his new moves. He swung the staff at the monster but Knotnus quickly batted it away. He also blocked the next couple of attacks before shooting an energy rope at the blue ranger. It clipped Ron on the hands and he dropped his Star Rod. The monster followed this up by kicking him in the stomach, sending him skidding across the grass.

Hermione pulled out her Star Blaster and began firing rapidly at the monster. Even with her Chi enhanced speed, the monster was still too quick for her. "Alright so that didn't work", Hermione said with a flustered tone and tried to think of another plan. Knotnus wasn't going to give the yellow ranger any thinking time though quickly charged towards her. Hermione ducked a punch and responded by kicking the monster in the back. Knotnus roared in frustrating and swung his arm over his head, creating an energy whip. With a flick of his wrist the whip struck Hermione in the chest and she joined Ron in a crumpled heap on the ground.

The pink ranger jumped to the defence of her team mates and clipped Knotnus across the back of the legs with her Star Rod. The monster quickly turned in her direction and aimed his energy whip at Cho. The pink ranger twirled her staff and pushed the energy attack away with some wind power but her Chi powers weren't having as much effect on the monster as they did on the Cedals. She began to whip up a twister but this barely slowed down the rampaging monster. Suddenly her tornado was joined by a burst of fire, creating a firestorm. Knotnus tumbled through the air and crashed into a low stone wall. "Huh wasn't sure if that would work", Harry said as he walked up behind the pink ranger.

"I did say that combining Chi attacks would increase their effectiveness", Cho replied, "perhaps you'll admit I was right".

Harry didn't say anything in response, instead he helped his fallen team mates to their feet, "I think we should try the Chi Bomber on this guy".

"But Harry, it's not going to work with just four of us", Hermione replied. Cho explained to them last night that if they could focus and combine all their powers into one single blast, the results would be devastating for any Gormal soldier that crossed their paths. The Chi Bomber, as the attack came to be known, would only be effective with all five Chi Powers.

"See Granger listens to me", Cho protested, "we won't have enough power without the green ranger".

The red ranger sighed, "We have to try something and we're running out of options". The pink ranger huffed but didn't protest her leader's decision. The four rangers lined up and a small ball of energy began to form between their hands. The red, blue, yellow and pink balls were fired towards their target at lightning speed and crashed into the monster's chest. There was a massive explosion and for a few moments the rangers celebrated their victory, unfortunately it was short lived.

Before the smoke had cleared, four energy ropes shot towards the rangers and wrapped around their bodies, pinning their arms to their torsos. Slowly they were raising into the air as pulses of electricity surged into their bodies. Underneath their helmets the teens gritted their teeth to prevent themselves from crying out in pain.

"Foolish rangers", Knotnus boomed, "did you really think you could beat me so easily". Trying to ignore the pain, Harry struggled to reach the end of his blaster. After a few moments he grasped the grip with his fingers and was able to fire a couple of bursts at the monster. The shots struck Knotnus on the arm, damaging his energy ropes, "You'll pay for this rangers", he spat before disappearing into the sky. The rangers dropped to one knee and barely had enough energy to teleport themselves back to Hogwarts.

"Well that went to plan", Ron groaned as he held an ice pack to a bruise on his head. The teens immediately retreated to their training room to heal up after the battle. The blue ranger had already taken a pain relief potion but he was willing to try Hermione's suggestion for releasing some of the swelling on his head.

"In all honesty, how many of our plans actually work?" Hermione added. She looked over to Harry who was lying down on the practice mat, staring vacantly at the ceiling. Cho meanwhile was at a blackboard, looking over their list of potential green rangers. "You've been awfully quiet Harry", the yellow ranger added.

"Just thinking about that monster", the red ranger began, "nothing we seemed to hit it with worked".

"That's because he was a member of the Gormal nobility", Cho replied without turning around. "The Gormal Tribe had a very strict chain of command, starting with the emperor at the top. The Gormal Emperor's chief lieutenants were his two children and underneath them were the Generals of the army. Finally, there were the rest of the nobility with the Cedals at the bottom of the pile".

"So the nobility were really powerful then?" Ron asked.

"Depends on how high up the food chain they were", Cho began, "not much is known about how someone earned the right to be call noble or the power structure below the Generals sadly".

"We can worry about that later", Harry stood up and many his way over to Cho and the blackboard, "right now we need to work out who could be the green ranger".

Ron snapped his fingers, "Well since the green ranger's powers are all about creating illusions, wouldn't it make sense that he or she would have a creative or artistic mind". There was silence in the room and all eyes were on the blue ranger, "What?" he added.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this but I think you might be right", Cho replied, causing Ron to break out in a broad smile. The pink ranger returned to the blackboard, "Well all of the artists in Ravenclaw have been tested".

"So have the one's in Hufflepuff that I know of", Hermione added.

"But one name stands out from Gryffindor", Harry said and pointed to a name on the list.

"How come you didn't test him yesterday?" Cho asked the others.

"I'm not really sure", Ron began, "come to think about it, I don't remember seeing them at all last night".

"Or they didn't want to be seen", Harry said slowly before pulling out the Marauders Map from his robes. Once the map was activated, he found the target all alone a couple of floors above them. The rangers quickly grasped the green morpher and ran out of the training room as fast as possible.

The sound of pencil on paper was the only noise coming from the empty classroom. A lone figure occasionally glanced from their sketchbook and out to the Forbidden Forest in the distance. In addition to the trees, the sixth year student had added in a drawing of an unusual looking lion that had been visiting his dreams for the previous few nights.

Ever since those black suited creatures had been seen in Hogsmeade, weird things had been happening to him. He was sure that he had created a duplicate of himself but it had only lasted for a few seconds. Worst of all he had wanted his best friend to leave him in peace so he could finish his drawing but to his shock, no one had been able to see him at all last night.

The door to the classroom burst open and four people tumbled through. He wasn't surprised to see Harry, Hermione and Ron together but for some reason they had brought Cho Chang with them, "Hey", he asked cautiously, "what's going on".

"Nothing much", Harry replied, "just wanted to tell you there's extra Quidditch practice in a few minutes".

"Let's get warmed up right now", Ron added and threw something in his direction. Almost instinctively he caught the projectile, a strange looking box attached to a wrist strap. Moments later it shone green and automatically attached itself to his left wrist.

"What the hell is this thing?" he cried.

The quartet looked at each other before Hermione said, "I'm glad you're sitting down Dean because this is going to be a long story". Dean Thomas looked at the group nervously as they grabbed a chair each and took a seat opposite him.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	6. It's Chi Power

_Chapter 6 – It's Chi Power_

 ** _Previously_** _\- The door to the classroom burst open and four people tumbled through. He wasn't surprised to see Harry, Hermione and Ron together but for some reason they had brought Cho Chang with them, "Hey", he asked cautiously, "what's going on"._

" _Nothing much", Harry replied, "just wanted to tell you there's extra Quidditch practice in a few minutes"._

" _Let's get warmed up right now", Ron added and threw something in his direction. Almost instinctively he caught the projectile, a strange looking box attached to a wrist strap. Moments later it shone green and automatically attached itself to his left wrist._

" _What the hell is this thing?" he cried._

 _The quartet looked at each other before Hermione said, "I'm glad you're sitting down Dean because this is going to be a long story". Dean Thomas looked at the group nervously as they grabbed a chair each and took a seat opposite him._

Dean hadn't said a single word for the last ten minutes as four of his fellow students explained the situation to him. If he was honest, most of the explanation had stopped making sense after the first few sentences. Dean Thomas was a half blood from the East End of London. His Mum was a muggle and she had raised him alone after his wizarding father had disappeared before he was a year old. It was highly likely that he had been murdered by Death Eaters but there was no evidence or body to prove this. Shortly after he started his first year at Hogwarts, Dean's Mum remarried and had another couple of children. None of them had shown signs of magic so the dark skinned teen was still the only wizard in his family.

"Dean", Hermione clicked her fingers in front of his face, "are you even listening to us?"

"Yeah I just zoned out for a moment", the Gryffindor mumbled. He shook his head a couple of times before continuing, "So let me get this straight, Voldemort has discovered powerful ancient magic. He created monsters that can only be defeated by the five of us wearing brightly coloured spandex".

"When you put it like that it sounds crazy", Ron gave him a little smirk.

"It would sound crazy however you put it", Dean stood up and ran his hands through his short hair, "I don't get a say in this do I?"

Harry scoffed, "Welcome to my world", he muttered under his breath.

"Guys you're not helping", Hermione hissed at the pair. "Look Dean I know this seems ridiculous but the morpher doesn't lie, you are our green ranger".

Dean looked at the device on his wrist for a few moments. He had heard of the Power Rangers, in fact they were some of his heroes growing up. The Londoner often watched the various news channels just for a glimpse of their exploits across the pond. When he was younger he would often play Power Rangers with his younger sisters and dreamed of having similar powers one day. He thought magic would be as close as he would get to wielding that power. Clearly he was wrong, "Alright Dean I'm going to test your abilities", Cho began, "but before I do that, do you have any martial arts experience?"

"I did a little bit of Judo when I was younger plus a few karate workshops during the summer", he replied, "and I play a lot of football".

"Alright you've got something to build on at least", the Ravenclaw answered. "Now the green ranger has the ability of illusions and deception. I want you to focus on that for a couple of moments". Dean nodded and took a few deep breaths. Suddenly Cho swung a fist towards him and Dean recoiled in shock. The attempted attack never reached him as someone blocked the punch, an exact duplicate of the tall teenager.

"Bloody hell", Ron gasped, "there's two of them".

"Observant as always Ronald", Hermione rolled her eyes.

The original Dean placed a hand on his chest as he stared at the Asian teen, "You could've warned me", he gasped.

"Wouldn't have worked", Cho replied, "Chi power relies a lot on your instincts and it appears that yours are extremely good". Dean nodded slowly and his duplicate faded away.

"So what happens now?" Dean asked.

"Well you begin training with the rest of us", Harry began, "we'll try and get you up to speed before that monster reappears". Almost on cue their morphers buzzed, "Or we can train you on the job", he groaned.

"I think the signal is coming from Edinburgh again", Hermione said to the group as she placed a hand just above her morpher, "I worked out that channelling a little bit of Chi would tell us roughly where we're going". The others nodded in appreciation of the yellow ranger's talents but they would need to come up with some kind of magical alert system to help them moving forward.

"Just place your hand over the morpher", Harry said to Dean, "it'll apparate us instantly to the source of the disturbance". The new green ranger nodded and with a soft pop and a flash of light, the group disappeared.

Knotnus had returned to Edinburgh Castle as instructed by Lord Voldemort. The castle itself wasn't of any strategic importance but destroying the ancient building would cause despair amongst the muggle community. Knotnus fired several energy ropes towards the castle and they latched on to the top of the battlement. With a mighty tug, several chunks of masonry were pulled off the monument. He was about to fire again when he sensed the arrival of the rangers. Eager for another victory he went to greet them but he got the surprise of his life. With the group was a tall dark skinned teen dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a green t-shirt, "Called for reinforcements I see", he called out with a touch of false bravado.

"You could say that", Harry replied, "it's not too late to run".

Knotnus scoffed, "Let's get this over with, I'm a busy creature".

"Just do what we do", Harry whispered to Dean. The group prepared their morphers before calling, "Mystic Squadron, Transform" and they were engulfed in a bright light. When it cleared there were now five rangers facing off against Knotnus. Dean's uniform was the same as the other two boys except that it was green and his helmet was styled to look similar to a lion.

"Woah, this is incredible", the green ranger gasped as he looked down at his hands.

"You haven't seen anything yet", Harry smiled under his helmet. He called on his Star Blaster and Dagger and combined the two weapons together to form a sword. He gripped the handle of the weapon tightly and charged into battle. Something felt different this time, his attacks felt stronger and Knotnus was counter attacking less often. Whether it was the confidence of having a complete team or the extra boost of Chi energy from the green ranger that was driving force Harry couldn't say but he was extremely grateful.

"Save some for me mate", Ron called out from behind the red ranger. With a Star Dagger in hand, Ron quickly cut across the back of the monster. Knotnus cried in pain and tried to grab hold of the blue ranger but he was too slow. Ron swung his short blade in an upwards motion, knocking the monster back, "Grav Shot", he shouted and the monster was flung high into the air. He didn't travel as high as the Cedals did, however, it still gave the monster a heavy landing on the grass near the base of the castle.

Knotnus slowly got to his feet but he soon found himself under attack from someone he couldn't see. Several cuts were made across his arms and legs before his attack made herself known. "I think I'm getting the hang of this", Hermione said before calling out, "Time Fast". She threw her Star Dagger into the air and pulled out her blaster. The yellow ranger fired several bursts at the monster, from his perspective they moved impossibly fast. Hermione caught the Dagger and combined it with her blaster. Before the monster had time to react, he was cut through the abdomen with her blade, skidding across the dirt.

He was still sliding when he felt himself get lifted into the air by a strong gust of wind, "Not again", he groaned.

"Afraid so Knotnus", Cho replied before directing the wind to slam the monster into the ground. With a swing of her Star Rod, the monster crashed into the wall of Edinburgh Castle before sliding face first into the dirt.

Dean had been watching the battle raging around him, almost afraid to get involved. He vaguely recalled that Cho had been training for a while but he couldn't believe that the other three had only done this a couple of times before. "Nice job, we've got him on the ropes", Harry said as the rangers regrouped.

"Did someone say ropes", Knotnus caught them off guard and the five rangers were bound with the same energy ropes that had forced their retreat last time. Harry again tried to reach for his Star Blaster but Knotnus was ready for him, "Not this time red ranger", he called out and crushed Harry's arm against his body. For everyone except Dean, they were re-experiencing the painful bursts of energy that coursed through their bodies from their last tangle with Knotnus.

For the new green ranger this was a whole new experience, one that he wasn't enjoying. He could feel the ropes gradually getting tighter around his body and it was becoming difficult to breathe. He wished that someone could help them out of their predicament. Suddenly the ropes broke and the rangers crashed to the ground, "What the hell happened?" Ron asked.

The group looked over and saw someone attacking the monster, it was a duplicate that Dean had managed to summon, "Wow I didn't realise I did that", the green ranger said.

"Like I said, you've got good instincts", Cho praised the green ranger. Dean's duplicate cracked Knotnus across the body a couple of times before using his Star Rod to lift the monster into the air. Knotnus was slammed to the ground right at the feet of the rangers. The duplicate green ranger bowed before disappearing.

"Now's our chance and this should work better with five of us", Harry called out. A ball of energy began to form in the hands of each of the rangers, "Chi Bomber", they called and the multi coloured energy balls flew towards the monster. Knotnus cried out in pain before dropping towards the ground. He hit the dirt and exploded on impact, leaving a smoking crater near the walls of the castle. They punched the air and celebrated their first victory against one of Voldemort's monsters.

After the battle the rangers had returned to their training room inside the castle. Dean was given a quick tour and brief overview of their training plan but all the boring stuff could wait for another day. Cho went to a nearby cooling unit and pulled out five chilled Butterbeers and handed them to the others. The teens clinked the bottles together, "To the first of many victories", Harry smiled towards his team.

The teens took a swig out their bottle but Dean didn't smile like the others, "Why the long face Dean?" Hermione asked.

The green ranger sighed, "Nothing, I'm just being stupid". The others looked at him in silence before he sighed, "It's just that you were all so much better than I was, maybe you'd be better off with my duplicate".

"Don't worry about it", Ron began, "we were all pretty terrible during our first battle".

"I second that", Cho added with a smirk towards the others, "the duplicate also did nothing that you can't do, you just need some belief".

Harry nodded in agreement with the pink ranger, "And that's the point of training because I'm pretty sure that this was a test".

Hermione frowned, "Like Voldemort was testing what his powers could do?"

"Yeah", Harry replied, "I mean it's likely that Knotnus was low down in the Gormal hierarchy. Knowing Voldemort like I do, I don't think he would risk a top level General first time out". The others nodded as the red ranger's words sunk in. Knotnus had been tough enough but it had also given them a chance to test what their powers could do.

"We'll be ready for him", Dean said with as much confidence as he could muster.

"Now that's something I can drink to", Ron smiled at his dorm mate and the group laughed. As Dean looked around he realised that there were worst people to be on a team with. Ron was occasionally reckless but he was known for having a sound mind for strategy. Hermione in his opinion was a borderline genius and surprisingly deadly with a blaster. Cho was a bit of a mystery but even he could sense some hostility from her towards the original three rangers. But she had shown that she was willing to put that to one side for the good of the team.

Finally there was Harry, the so called Chosen One. He was a Defence prodigy so if he could trust anyone during a battle it would be him. Dean had been a little miffed when Harry started dating his ex-girlfriend but eventually Dean got over that. Clearly Ginny Weasley wasn't the right girl for him and he bore no ill will towards the red ranger. The teens continued to celebrate until close to curfew time, today had been a success and they need to celebrate those as much as possible because they knew that tougher challenges awaited them.


	7. Suspicious Minds

_Chapter 7 – Suspicious Minds_

Classes were over for the week and the occupants of Gryffindor Tower were preparing for the weekend. There was a buzz of excitement as several students had read an article in the Daily Prophet regarding the so called Power Rangers. The ministry had branded them as vigilantes and begged other members of the magical community not to follow their example. The rangers though had captivated the general public's imagination, all except the Pure Blood supremacists. The way that they blended highly advanced magic with muggle technology had intrigued the masses and they couldn't get enough of these brightly coloured heroes. Wild speculation was rife about the identities of the rangers and the Prophet had vowed to get the exclusive story as soon as possible.

One person who wasn't hugely interested in the story was Ginny Weasley. She was more concerned about the increasing absence of her boyfriend. For the last week Harry had been disappearing for several hours and when he did arrive back in the tower, he was absolutely exhausted. She had questioned Ron and Hermione first but they weren't forthcoming with any information. The pair too had been suspiciously absent at times which the teen attributed to their prefect duties. Either that or they had finally admitted their feelings for each other and finally found a decent broom cupboard to snog in.

She was sitting casually on one of the sofas in the common room when Harry bounced down the stairs, "Hey Harry", she greeted with a smile, "I thought that we could do something this weekend".

An expression appeared on Harry's face that suggested that he was genuinely upset before he answered, "Sorry Ginny but I promised Ron that I'd help him with something", he bent down and kissed her on the cheek, "maybe another day". He didn't wait for her response and left the common room as quickly as possible.

For a couple of moments Ginny was shocked and more than a little hurt. The disappointment soon turned to anger and frustration. Harry was always leaving her out of whatever scheme he, Ron and Hermione were working on. This time though she vowed not to be the one left in the dark.

Ginny left the common room and looked down the stairs. She could see Harry reach the bottom and then turn right towards a disused part of the school. Chasing after him as quickly and quietly as possible she noticed that her target had paused at an intersection. Ginny pressed herself flat against the wall so she couldn't be seen. A few moments later she heard Harry speak, "You're late", he said to someone, "this extra session was your idea".

"Don't get on your high horse with me Potter, let's just get this over with". Ginny's hand flew up to her mouth, why was Harry meeting Cho Chang in a deserted part of the castle? She peeked around the wall and saw which corridor they walked down. Breaking into a brisk walk she soon found herself in front of a plain looking pair of wooden doors. Ginny felt like something was telling her to move away from the area, almost like she was experiencing a compulsion charm. Whatever charm was on the door didn't prevent her from placing her ear on the wooden frame.

"Focus would you Potter", she heard Cho's voice said through the door.

"It's not my fault that you're more experienced at this kind of thing than I am", Harry protested. The talking stopped and Ginny could hear the sound of physical effort with the occasional thud of someone or something hitting the ground.

The red head could feel a few tears beginning to form in her eyes as several thoughts ran through her head. After a few moments she wiped her face and pulled out her wand. She wouldn't get either of them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Taking a deep breath the teen forced the door open and barged in with her wand drawn.

Whatever Ginny was expecting to find behind the door, it certainly wasn't this. Harry and Cho were in the middle of the room, standing on a padded mat. The older girl was standing behind Harry with her arm locked around his neck. At the side of the room were Ron, Hermione and her ex-boyfriend Dean Thomas. All of them were dressed in identical muggle exercise clothing apart from the different coloured t-shirts. "Ginny", Harry gasped, "this isn't what it looks like".

The girl still had her wand out, "What the bloody hell is this then?" she shrieked in an almost near perfect impersonation of her mother.

"Ginny just lower your wand and we'll talk about this rationally", Hermione tried to defuse the situation.

"How the hell did she find this place?" Ron asked with a hushed whisper.

"Not the biggest problem right now", Cho shot back and released Harry from the choke hold.

"Stop stalling and tell me why by boyfriend is being strangled by his ex, whilst my brother, best friend and ex-boyfriend were watching", Ginny cried, "is this some kind of kinky sex club?"

"Ginny please", Harry began, "just lower your wand and we'll explain".

"Potter, you know we can't do that", Cho hissed in his direction.

Harry sighed, "I don't think we've got much choice". He looked Ginny in the eye and held her gaze for a few moments until she slowly and reluctantly lowered her wand. Harry waived his hand and the doors slammed shut, "I assume you've read about the group called the Power Rangers", Ginny nodded slowly, "well it's us".

Dean slapped his hand to his face, "No offence Harry but that was the worst explanation ever".

Ginny stared at the group for a few moments before breaking out in laughter. After a few moments she began to regain control, "That is the worst excuse ever", she began, "how about you try again before I start hexing you".

Cho rolled her eyes and quickly summoned her morpher, "Mystic Squadron, Transform", she called and morphed into the pink ranger. The other four looked at her in shock, "What, I don't want to listen to their domestic for any longer than I have do", she shrugged. She removed her helmet and let her long dark hair flow tumble out. She tossed the helmet over to the red haired girl who caught it at the second attempt.

Ginny looked at the phoenix motif on the helmet and then into the darkened visor. She couldn't see any difference between the images in the Prophet and what she had in her hands, "But how? Why? How?" she stammered.

"Three excellent questions", Hermione answered, "perhaps she should all take a seat". One by one the group slowly began to explain how each of them had become rangers and the additional powers they now had. They also relayed the story of their first battle in Edinburgh a few days ago along with their fights against the Cedals.

Several minutes later, Ginny was still shell shocked. The latest flavour of the month in the wizarding world was sitting right in front of her. She had so many questions running through her head, "So since Ron has this Chi power, does that mean that I do as well?"

The rangers looked towards their expert for the answer, "I'm afraid not", Cho replied, "the power only manifests itself in one family member in every generation. Sadly for us your older brother was the chosen one in your line".

Ginny gave the older girl a small smile as Ron cried out indignantly, "It could explain why your family are pretty good flyers though", Hermione added, "you, Ron, the twins and Charlie are all really good on a broom. Maybe you carry some remnants of Ron's power and that's why you were able to find our training room".

"Guess the real question is what to do now?" Dean said to everyone.

"You're not going to use some weird Chi power to wipe my mind are you?" Ginny asked slightly fearfully.

The rangers looked at each other for a moment before they all looked towards Harry. The red ranger sighed before speaking, "Ginny we're", he paused, "no I'm trusting you not to tell anyone about this. Plus we never know when an attack could take place, we could use someone to cover for us if necessary". Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and everyone looked reasonably happy with their leader's decision.

"Can you teach me some of the stuff you're learning?" Ginny asked. "I know that I can't learn about Chi but there must be something".

Harry instantly turned his head towards the pink ranger, Cho was by far and away their best fighter. He could feel her reluctance to assist though and why should she? Cho was already on shaky terms with the Rangers and training his current girlfriend might be one step too far. The pressure and gaze of the other Rangers though began to where the Ravenclaw down and after several, tense moments, the pink ranger replied, "I can run through some basics, you can't be any worse than your brother", another cry of protest came from the blue ranger.

"Thank you", Ginny replied, the offer wasn't overly sincere but it was a start, "so are you an expert in muggle fighting then?"

"I wouldn't call myself an expert", Cho confessed, "my Uncle Ling taught me since I was a young girl, he was the previous protector of the Wind Chi Power until I inherited it".

Ron snorted with laughter, "So he would've been the pink ranger then?"

Cho rolled her eyes, "Enter the twenty first century Weasley", she regained her composure before continuing, "Uncle Ling taught me to third level dan in a couple of disciplines. There's hundreds of martial arts though so I would never call myself a master".

"The great Cho Chang shows humility", Harry joked. The pink ranger glared in response but there was a ghost of a smile on her lips, "That leads us nicely onto this", he reached down into his bag and pulled out a piece of parchment, "Dumbledore somehow reached out to some past Rangers who are going to provide additional combat training".

Harry handed the letter over to the yellow ranger as their resident history expert. The names on the parchment meant nothing to him, however, he hoped they would to Hermione. "This is an impressive list", she whistled, "I never knew these people were Power Rangers, just getting the chance to speak to them will be an experience".

"Well don't keep us in suspense", Dean began, "who's coming to visit?"

The yellow ranger shook the parchment for dramatic effect before continuing, "Casey Rhodes, red Jungle Fury ranger, he's a Pai Zhuq master and expert in Kung Fu". A small murmur of approval came from the group, "Next up, Dustin Brookes and Tori Hanson, the yellow and blue rangers from the Ninja Storm team".

"The moto legend and surfing champion", Dean nodded in approval.

"And ninja's too", Cho added, "imagine what they're going to be able to teach us. Stylistically the Japanese ninjutsu could clash with Chinese origins of Chi. I'll overlook that if it helps against Voldemort's forces".

"Couldn't agree more", the yellow ranger nodded, "so next up we have Karone, who served as the pink Galaxy ranger". She paused for a couple of moments, "I don't know too much about that team, they spent most of their time on the Terra Venture space colony".

Ginny frowned, "Muggles have been into space, when did that happen?" she asked.

"Nearly sixty years ago", Harry replied, "maybe we need to add some basic history lessons to our training sessions". The red ranger cursed the inadequate Muggle Studies at the school. He flicked through Hermione's book during third year and found most of the information was around hundred years out of date. Pushing that to side, he turned his attention to the list of past Rangers, "Any more names on there Hermione?"

The yellow ranger nodded, "Just one, Tommy Oliver the original green ranger", she paused for a few seconds before continuing, "I've heard of him, one of the youngest doctor's of palaeontology in history, made numerous discoveries that helped our understanding of dinosaurs".

"And a handy fighter too", Dean added, "I've watched a few exhibitions videos of his on YouTube".

The ranger's and their new ally contemplated their list of trainers, on paper they sounded just the thing they needed to get them up to speed. Getting to pick the brains of a few past Rangers was an added advantage. There was one question lingering over the group which Ron vocalised for the teens, "How did Dumbledore dig up five past Rangers? I mean, it's not like their identities are public", he turned and looked at Hermione, "are they?"

"Only a few teams made their identities known", she shook her head, "and none of the names were on any of those teams".

"Another Dumbledore related mystery", Harry sighed, the secrets kept by Albus Dumbledore could fill several large tomes. He could ask the Headmaster but somehow, he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer. The red ranger focused on more important matters, "Does it say when these past Rangers will be arriving?"

Hermione turned back to the parchment, "By the end of the week, the Order will meet them in London and bring them straight to Hogwarts". Harry and the others nodded, finally they felt they were making progress. With Ginny in the know and some Ranger legends on their side, nothing would stand in their way.


	8. Rejected

_Chapter 8 – Rejected_

The atmosphere was stifling underground and Tommy Oliver was relieved to feel some fresh air on his face as the escalator approached the surface. He had set off from California several hours ago and after a stop off, he had finally touched down at Heathrow Airport. He had been expecting someone from this Hogwarts School to come and collect him but to his surprise he had been asked to travel into central London instead. His destination was also random as well, Hyde Park, not even a major stop on the Underground. So here he was with a large suitcase standing at Hyde Park Corner looking for someone from this school.

A few days ago Tommy was sitting in his office at Angel Grove High. It seems a day like any other for the current Principle until an owl flew through an open window. Tommy had seen many things in his life, however, a bird carrying a piece of parchment on his leg was up there with the most unusual. The request immediately got his attention, to come and instruct the latest team of Power Rangers in England.

Many things about the letter surprised Tommy, surely a new team of Rangers would make the news. To his knowledge, nothing had been reported on the international broadcasts. The letter itself was written on some very thick paper that almost looked like parchment. Finally the location, Hogwarts, didn't ring any bells. His knowledge of UK geography was limited but the place didn't sound real. A quick internet search for Hogwarts later didn't provide any answers, in fact the lack of results only created more questions. Eventually after much consideration he decided to investigate, if only to satisfy his curiosity.

It had been fifteen minutes since Tommy had gotten off the Tube and there was still no sign for anyone from Hogwarts. He checked his watch a few times to make sure that he wasn't late. The multi-coloured Ranger was seriously considering returning to the Airport but a familiar voice caught his attention, "Tommy?" he turned around and was surprised to see Casey Rhodes walking his way, "what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question Casey", Tommy replied and shook the red ranger's hand, "you're a long way from Ocean's Bluff".

Casey reached into his back pocket and pulled out a familiar piece of parchment, "Well when you get a request on a piece of parchment delivered by an owl, it tends to spark your interest".

The two former red ranger's didn't get time to catch up as another familiar face joined them, "Well if this is an ambush, at least I'm not alone", the blonde haired, leather clad Karone called to the pair. She was waiving her own piece of parchment at the pair, "I'm impressed the owl actually found me on a NASADA military base", the second pink Galaxy Ranger added, "stray birds on an air base tend to be dealt with harshly".

The last time the three former Rangers were together was six months ago for the final battle against the Armada. This plan seemed a little subtle for any remnants of the Empire. Someone though had gone to a lot of trouble to find the identities of three former Rangers and gather them in one place. "So this Hogwarts place then", Casey asked, "I've never heard of it and I can't find it on any map".

"I've asked a few of the locals", Karone continued, "but they just looked at me strangely. I'm beginning to think this place is hidden somewhere, like the Animarium".

It was a good suggestion from the pink ranger, one that Tommy hadn't considered. Past teams of Rangers had found a missing Galaxy, alternate dimensions and the Lost City of Atlantis. Maybe this Hogwarts place was a real place hidden from the view of the masses, "Could be hidden behind a strange waterfall", the sudden vocal intrusion into the group made them jump. Only when they turned around did they see a blonde haired woman in a light blue jacket and a brown haired man wearing a yellow t-shirt, "Just saying", Dustin Brookes added.

"Are you trying to give us a heart attack", Casey snapped, "sneaking up on people like that".

"We've been following you for the last fifteen minutes", Tori Hanson shrugged, "you really should be more observant".

"Ninja's dude", Dustin added with a smile.

Suddenly the sound of an explosion echoed off the buildings, halting any further greetings between the former Rangers. It sounded like it was a fair distance away and no one around him seemed to be too scared. Moments later smoke could be seen rising into the sky from the park. Immediately panic started to grip the citizens of London.

Wasting no time, Tommy and the others abandoned their suitcases and ran into the park. Hyde Park covered a vast area but five brightly coloured shapes stood out in the distance. As the veteran Rangers got closer, they could clearly see that these shapes were wearing ranger suits, "These must be the new guys", Casey commented out loud, "fancy suits, more interesting than my team's suits anyway".

The latest red ranger fired off a red orb in the direction of the monster, a red bodied creature with a purse motif around his head. Priest Purse was one of the more senior monsters in the Gormal hierarchy, significantly stronger than the last monster the rangers fought. Something about the monster looked familiar to Tommy though, "Purse Head?" he muttered to himself.

"What's that Tommy?" Dustin asked the legendary Ranger.

"This monster looks similar to one Lord Zedd created many years ago", Tommy responded, "he used his magic to make a monster out of Kimberly's purse".

"Villains these days", Karone shook her head, "absolutely no imagination".

Deciding not to get in their way, the veterans took cover behind a tree and watched the new team in action. They were relying on their weapons and special attacks rather than martial arts which was a concern. Judging by their accents all the rangers were English, although they could detect a hint of a Scottish accent from the pink ranger.

The rangers were so busy fighting the monster that they had forgotten about the footsoldiers. A couple of Cedals were sneaking up behind the green and yellow rangers with a sharp blade and they had no idea it was coming. Tommy jumped from his hiding spot and kicked one of the creatures in the back before eliminating the other with a spin kick, "Sorry for jumping in", he laughed.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked in confusion.

"Just a concerned tourist", Tommy replied as another Cedal approached him. Tommy punched it in the gut and followed it up with a kick to the chest. The two rangers were still looking at the mysterious newcomer rather than the monster, "Don't look at me, worry about the monster", he called out as more Cedals closed in on the former green ranger.

Taking their cue from Tommy, the remaining veterans jumped out from their hiding place, right in between the current team and the Cedals, "You can't fight you those things", Hermione cried in desperation.

"Nothing we haven't faced before", Tori smirked and dodged an attempted punch from a Cedal. She swept the legs out from the monster, knocking it to the ground. Pushing her hair away from her face, the blue Wind Ranger twisted her arms in front of her body, "You guys look a little warm", she smirked before firing a jet of water at the creature, "that should cool you off".

Casey stood motionless for a few moments, allowing the creatures to approach. He waited until the last second before dodging a punch with the slightest shift of his head. The red Jungle Fury ranger repeated this a couple of times until he found the perfect opening. Elbowing the creatures in the stomach, two swift kicks created a small opening, "Call to the beast inside, unleash the tiger". A burst of red energy in the form of a tiger shot from his hands, barrelling through the monsters, "Don't you have a team weapon or something you can use on that thing?" he called out. This seemed to jolt the two rangers back to the situation and they dashed off to join their team mates, "Rookies", Casey chuckled.

"Nice of you to join us", Ron said to his fellow rangers.

"Who are those guys?" Cho added as he cracked her Star Rod over the monsters head.

"No idea, some trigger happy American tourists I think", Dean replied, "pretty good fighters though".

"Guys can we focus", Harry said with frustration in his voice. Almost to prove the red ranger's point, Priest Purse unleashed a volley of explosive coins towards the rangers. Each coin burst on their chests and the force of the explosions knocked them to the ground.

"I have you now rangers", Priest Purse chuckled, "my Lord will be pleased". His gloating was cut short when a Cedal flew through the air and crashed into him.

"My bad", Karone laughed, "now's your chance rangers", he added.

Still confused by the mystery group, the rangers quickly called on their Chi Bomber attack. The combination of their energy ripped through the monster and he crashed to the ground. With the last of the Cedals gone as well, the rangers quickly approached the veteran Rangers, "Thanks for the help", Harry began, "but you shouldn't have endangered yourself like that".

"Wouldn't be the first time", Dustin shrugged, "took me back a few years". He checked his watch, "I hope this dude from Hogwarts hasn't been scared off by the attack".

The rangers stopped and looked amongst themselves, "Did you just say Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Yeah have you heard of it?" Tori replied, "you'd be the first person I've come across that has". The group were so busy talking that they didn't notice Priest Purse moving. The monster pulled out a glass phial filled with a green potion and smashed it on the ground. He inhaled the fumes and suddenly began to grow until he towered over the rangers and the city. "I really hate it when that happens", Tori mumbled to himself.

The rangers quickly backed away, "Any ideas how to deal with that?" Hermione asked the pink ranger.

"Not a clue", Cho replied, "I've never come across anything like this before".

"Don't you guys have zords or something?" Tommy asked.

Dean's head immediately whipped around, "You sound like you've done this before".

"Once or twice", Tommy deadpanned, he was wishing that he could call on the Dragonzord or any of his previous zords right about now.

A loud cry rang out across the park and the group looked towards the sky, "It's the Red Dragon", Harry pointed to the sky. The Red Dragon hovered in the air and let out a loud battle cry. It lowered his head and sped towards the monster, crashing into Priest Purse with a tremendous about of force.

"The Red Dragon Thunderzord?" Tommy frowned as the Red Dragon came in for another attack. His jaw opened wide and unleashed couple of fireballs that crashed into the monster. Priest Purse didn't get a chance to respond as the Red Dragon shot a jet of fire out of his open mouth. The monster cried in pain before hitting the ground and exploding.

"It's amazing", Ron said with awe, "doesn't he belong to you mate?" he asked the red ranger.

"I guess so", Harry replied nervously. He sensed a presence in his head briefly and he could have sworn that the Red Dragon let out a snort of derision. Moments later the massive zord turned around and flew off into the clouds.

"I don't think he likes you", Cho mocked the red ranger, "so now what do we do with you", she said to the others.

There were a few tense moments before a loud ringing noise broke the silence, "Harry here", the red ranger said into his wrist.

"Congratulations on your victory", Dumbledore voice replied, "return to the school as quickly as possible. Oh and bring your new teachers with you", the rangers looked towards Tommy, "welcome to Britain Mr Oliver, Miss Hanson, Mr Brookes, Mr Rhodes and Miss Karone", Dumbledore added before terminating the call.

The current team of Rangers looked over their predecessors until Dustin broke the silence, "Mr Brookes, clearly he doesn't know me", Tori rolled her eyes and slapped her team mate on the arm.

Half an hour later the veteran Ranger were in the Headmaster's office as Dumbledore finished debriefing the rangers. He had gotten a brief explanation about the school and he still couldn't believe it. He believed that magic was real, Rita Repulsa and others had shown that on many occasions. His real disbelief came from the revelation that an entire society of witches and wizards existed right under his nose. He was slightly distrusting of magic as a whole, a consequence of Rita's spell that was used to turn him to her side but this group seemed to be totally different from that evil space witch.

He looked over the rangers and realised that they were similar ages to when he was a ranger. It also didn't take a psychologist to realise that the team hadn't gelled yet. The red, yellow and blue ranger clearly had a strong bond with each other. The pink and green ranger seemed distant from the others and he was getting a hint of hostility from the pink ranger towards the others.

"Now on to you", Dumbledore finally addressed the veteran Rangers, "I have asked all of you to personally train the team on a one on one basis. Please use the time together to impart some of your skill, knowledge and experience as a former ranger".

"How are you going to explain their presence?" Hermione asked, "you are muggles I take it", she directed to the veterans.

The American visitors were confused by the question but fortunately Dumbledore responded for them, "Yes Miss Granger, they are muggles. I will simply explain they are visitors from the American Ministry and they're position here will be to observe me. Hopefully none of them will have to prove any magical abilities during this time".

"Not the most well thought through plan", Tommy snorted, drawing sharp looks from the rangers. Clearly they weren't used to anyone questioning Dumbledore Tommy thought to himself.

"Technically I'm not American", Karone clarified, "I'm not really from this planet so how is that going to work?"

"You're an alien", Dean gasped, "that's amazing".

Karone though merely rolled her eyes, "Earth isn't the only planet humans call home you know, why does everything assume that".

In an attempt to defuse any further arguments, the current red ranger injected himself, "Sir why did that monster suddenly grow into a giant?" Harry asked his Headmaster.

"It's a common tactic used by everything head villain in Ranger history", Tori replied for Dumbledore, "the method varies between bad guys, magic wands, power scrolls, even giant laser beams", Karone adverted her eyes slightly at that comment, "the result is the same though, one big assed monster. I assume that this Voldemort guy has found a way to do the same thing".

Casey picked up the story, "All of us had zords, most of them animal themed if I recall. Again, each team is different though".

"Do we have zords?" Dean asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, "According to information available, the ancient Chinese warriors had crafts similar to the ones Mr Rhodes described. The Red Dragon Zord is one of those crafts".

"But the Red Dragon doesn't seem to like me", Harry shook his head.

Dumbledore sighed, "Unfortunately that does seem to be the case", he paused, "the Mythical Beasts will only give their power to the ones they believe are worthy".

"But we have the morphers", Ron began, "shouldn't that be enough?"

"I'm not sure Mr Weasley, the texts do not detail how the ancient warriors proved their worth to the Mythical Beasts", Dumbledore replied, "I believe this is something we are going to have to find out together".

"I do have one question", Tommy began, "the Red Dragon zord looks almost identical to one used by the red ranger's on my first team, any ideas why?"

There was a pause as Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, "All will be revealed in good time Mr Oliver, now it's nearly curfew so I recommend everyone gets some rest. Training will begin first thing tomorrow morning".

The rangers recognised a dismissal when they heard one. They had gained new allies today but Voldemort had gained a terrifying new ability. They would need to find the remaining Mythical Beasts to stand a chance against these new giant creatures.

Then there was Harry, the Red Dragon Zord had proved willing to help them. He had teleported them back to Hogwarts during the first Cedal attack and then defeated Priest Purse signal handily. But at the same time the Red Dragon had shown contempt towards the red ranger. Harry would need to win over the Red Dragon before it was too late.


	9. Vision Quest

_Chapter 9 – The Vision Quest_

The candles lighting the ranger's training room had been dimmed, giving the space an ominous glow. All the equipment had been moved to the side and the five teens were sitting in a circle on one of the training mats. Dotted around the group were the veteran Rangers and several candles in large metal dishes. The room was beginning to fill with a sweet smelling aroma that was emanating from the fire.

It had been a long and tiring week since the veteran's arrived. The training sessions were moving along with mixed results. Harry probably had the rawest power, Ron had a great mind for strategy if a little low on self-confidence, Hermione absorbed information like a sponge, Dean wasn't afraid to think outside the box and could see what the others couldn't and Cho was probably the most talented fighter of the group. All of them shared one common problem; they lacked the ability to work effectively as a team. That would be crucial if they were going to be able to summon the Mythical Beasts.

The veterans tried various methods to get the team working on the same page, all of them ended in failure. There was something holding each of them back, however, none of them was willing to admit it consciously. Tommy eventually hit on the idea of a vision quest which led them to today. Using some notes supplied by Cho from her Uncle's extensive library on Chi, the veterans were going to lead their charges through a quest to obtain their Mythical Beast.

With the current and veteran Rangers involved in the procedure and Dumbledore once again absent from the school grounds, the task of observing the ritual fell to a nervous Ginny. The group suggested bringing another veteran Ranger to help but Ginny politely refused. Bring someone else to Hogwarts would delay the current team from obtaining their zords, time that Voldemort could exploit and launch an attack.

To begin the ritual, the ten Rangers had a light warm up session followed by a group sparring session. This would prepare the mind and body for the tests they were about to go through. Ginny meanwhile laid out the candle in the precise spots needed for the ritual. Following this, she had to create the perfect mix of incense to ensure the trance state would be achieved. Potions wasn't her strongest subject, fortunately she paid enough attention to Professor Snape over the years to mix the perfect blend of burning oil. At least that what she hoped, she didn't want to think about the consequences of failure.

The ritual needed to be completed at sunset and with that time fast approaching, the young Gryffindor called out, "I think that enough of a warm up, are you ready to begin the ritual?"

Harry looked around at his team mates and took a deep breath, "Alright we're ready". Ginny nodded and the veteran Rangers began to assume their positions.

Ginny returned to the notes to make sure nothing had been missed. Once everyone entered the trance state, there was only one way to wake everyone up. To make things trickier, that method could only be used once. If Ginny did something wrong, there was a chance all ten Rangers could be stuck forever. It was enough to stress anyone out, "You need to relax", Casey said to the red head, "if you keep this up you won't have any nails left". Ginny reluctantly stopped biting her nails and folded her arms across her chest, "Here have some of this, we've got a long night ahead of us".

Ginny looked at the brightly coloured metal tin in Casey's hand curiously before taking it for herself. She took a tentative sip of the contents of the can but found the drink extremely sweet, "This tastes like liquid sugar", she recoiled at the taste.

"Good isn't it", Tommy smiled, "you act like you've never had an energy drink before".

"Pepper up potions by never anything like this" Ginny replied, "do all muggles drink this stuff?"

"Only those who don't want to sleep at night", Tori chuckled from the other side of the room, "When Dustin was studying for his finals, he drank four cans of Red Bull in two hours. I don't think he slept for two days after that".

"A day and a half actually", the yellow Wind Ranger defended himself, "the doctor's said I had a sugar crash. I thought those were something my parents used as a threat to stop me drinking so much Pepsi, it wasn't fun let me tell you".

"After nearly twenty years, I still struggle to understand you Earthlings", Karone sighed as she took her seat next to Cho.

With everyone now in their correct places, Ginny began the process of lighting the central flame in the middle of the circle. She only hoped that her hands were steady enough after that hit of sugar and caffeine Casey gave her. Fortunately her nerves held and the flame roared into life with a bright red flame. As she backed slowly out the circle, the colour of the flames began to change, oscillating between blue, yellow, green and pink, "The Ranger's colours", the red head muttered under her breath.

One by one the Ranger's slipped into a deep trance, signified by their body's flopping to the mats rather ungracefully. If the scribbled notes hadn't mentioned this, Ginny would've been freaking out at this point. The smell of incense filled the room, in theory the effects would be limited to the Rangers but that didn't stop Ginny from feeling tired. Turning back to the brightly coloured tin Casey had given her, she wondered if this was his plan all along, "Oh well, it might taste disgusting but if it works". She took another sugary swig of the drink, all she could do now was wait.

When the rangers woke up, they found themselves on top of a hill overlooking a rudimentary settlement. Looking down they could see black wraths swarming over the village as the residents tried to scramble to safety. The teens were about to run down and help when someone called out from the sky, "You can't help them".

"We have to do something", Harry replied.

"This is just a vision of the past", the voice began, "you're about to witness the ancient warriors in action". Sure enough five warriors dressed in black with different coloured accents charged towards the wraths. Using the same powers as the rangers had they quickly defeated the enemies, much to the gratitude of the residents. The rangers could only watch in awe at the team work shown by the warriors and the way they could combine their Chi energy intertwined with each other.

"They're pretty good", Dean commented, "we're a long way short of them".

The voice in the clouds sighed, "This is your problem, all of you", he stated, "Chi is most effective when you believe fully in its abilities". There was a light gust of wind that billowed through the assembled Rangers, "Perhaps you need some convincing", and with a flash the group were transported away to their individual quests.

Hermione and Dustin landed with a thud on a hard stone floor. The yellow Magi ranger allowed herself a few moments to get some oxygen back into her lungs before pushing herself to a kneeling position. It didn't take long to realise where she was, "The Hogwarts library", she muttered, "I wonder why we're here".

"This is your vision so you tell me", Dustin replied, "usually the content has some kind of meaning to your subconscious, at least that's what Sensei keeps telling us". The pair moved a little deeper into the library until they found a lone figure sitting at a table surrounded by a mountain of books. Immediately the yellow Wind ranger recognised the seated girl, "Visions can also be totally meta dude", he chuckled and pushed his fellow yellow ranger forward.

Hermione stepped towards her duplicate, closely inspecting the back of her own head, "Wow my hair really is that bushy isn't it", she said towards her clone.

"I'm not here to give you style tips", Dream Hermione replied with a dismissive snort. The clone's head remained firmly buried in a book, "You're here to learn something important about yourself".

The yellow ranger scanned the books on the table, there was a mixture of the standard Hogwarts text books and a few muggle books. She concentrated on the book in the vision's hand, "Martial arts for dummies", she scoffed, "is that even a real book?"

"That's the most important question on your mind?" her doppleganger shook her head, "and I thought you were the brains of the team. Without that, what else are you going to bring?"

Resisting the urge to argue with a figment of her imagination, the yellow ranger turned her attention to the situation at hand. Why would her subconscious feel the need to learn martial arts from a book? Then it suddenly hit her, something that had previously been mentioned over the course of her Hogwarts career, "Book smart but not world smart", she stated, "I can recite a text book but that doesn't mean I can apply it to the real world".

Her copy glanced over the book with a blank expression, "Go on", she replied

"I may know this book, however fake it is", she pointed at the yellow covered book in her vision's hand, "inside out but that doesn't always translate to practical ability".

A knowing smile passed over the fake Hermione's face, "You're a smart person Hermione and the team needs that but are you ready for the challenge?" The real Hermione hesitated for a moment before nodding, "I'm not convinced and trust me, I know what's inside you", her doppelganger replied.

The yellow ranger paused for a moment before replying, "I know I'm not the best fighter here but I'm willing to give everything to protect my friends, family and the world". She paused again, "I might think I know everything but I don't and hopefully I can continue to learn from my team".

"Smart and humble", Dream Hermione smiled, "I think you've earned this". The fake Hermione faded and a yellow energy consumed the teen. Up in the sky she saw a griffin streak across the horizon before the fake Hermione faded away.

"This is a good sign, the Griffin Zord has deemed you worthy", the disembodied voice called out, "use it wisely".

Dustin looked to the ceiling and gave a shudder, "That's not creepy at all", he turned his attention back to his successor, "good job though, I would never have figured it out that quickly".

"Smartest witch and all that", Hermione replied sounding slightly downbeat, "it's true though, I might know all this information but I'll never be as good in battle as others".

"True success is not always about being the best but being the best you can be", Dustin stated in his best teacher voice.

A small smile appeared on Hermione's face, "Did you Sensei tell you that?"

"Nah", Dustin shook his head, "got it from a fortune cookie", this drew a chuckle from the current yellow ranger, "now, how do we get out of here?" Almost in response to his comment, the pair disappeared back to reality.

Over with the green ranger, Dean immediately recognised his surroundings. A cramped kitchen with a wooden table in the middle that only reduced the space further. A quick glance out the window revealed a row of uniformly similar terraced houses, "This is my house", he commented, "complete with the little monsters".

Seated at the table chaotically eating their breakfast were three young girls. One was around thirteen with a shocking amount of frizzy dark hair that would rival Hermione's for unruliness. The other two girls were younger, around eight or nine and were clearly identical twins, "Your sisters I assume", Tommy said.

"Yup or the little monsters as I call them", the green ranger replied, "the oldest is Shazney, proper thirteen going on thirty type". Tommy snorted with laughter, that reminded him of his oldest, "The twins are Camilla and Kennedy, they've got a mischievous streak that would give the Weasley twins a run for their money".

"No magic in them?" Tommy asked. He didn't know a huge amount about the wizarding world but this breakfast scene looked decidedly muggle.

"Well Shaz definitely hasn't", Dean replied, "she would've got her Hogwarts letter by now, as for the twins", he paused for a moment, "I haven't seen any accidental magic from them but I dunno, I've just got this feeling about them".

The twins finished their breakfast quickly with one of them shovelling some cereal into their mouth and leaving the table without swallowing, "Hey Ken, come back here before you choke", Shazney called out and dashed after her younger sister. To his shock Shazney passed straight through Dean's body without registering his presence.

Moments later, Camilla did the same thing, "That's freaky, now I know this is a vision".

"I thought you would've been used to it", someone else appeared at the table, an exact copy of Dean, "the guy who hides in the shadows is now trusted to save the world".

"If you're really me then you know what I'm capable of", Dean stood up a little straighter, the word of his clone stinging more than he expected.

"Do you though?" Dream Dean replied. To the real green ranger's surprise his copy paused to butter a piece of toast. The image took a bite and mumbled with his mouth full, "tell me what can you add to this team. We already have a strategist, a genius, an expert on Chi and the Boy-Who-Lived. Why do they need Dean Thomas?"

"Well clearly not to provide a motivational speech based on this conversation", Dean shrugged, "or to provide a good example of table manners", he added. His copy didn't look too impressed, "This team has four strong personalities but what they don't have is a voice of reason",

"I might not be any of those things you mentioned", Dean continued, "but maybe that's not a bad thing. After all Chi is all about balance", he flashed his duplicate a broad smiled.

Dream Dean shook his head, "Brave words but can you back them up?" The copy stood, still clutching his toast and stared in the eye. The green ranger wanted to back down but defiantly held his gaze. After a few moments a roaring lion pierced the tense silence, "I'm not convinced but the Lion Zord sees something in you". The clone jammed the toast into Dean's mouth before adding, "Don't let him down", and with that, he disappeared.

Dean pulled the toast out his mouth and dropped it on the table, "Damn, dream me is a massive dick", he sighed, "but at least I've got the Lion Zord". Tommy though hadn't moved, "Tommy, is something the matter?"

The former green ranger didn't reply, an image of Dean's new zord flashed across his mind and it looked identical to the Lion Thunderzord formerly belonging to Zack Taylor and Adam Park. This only created further questions in his mind, however, he never got a chance to voice them as he was teleported back to reality.


	10. More Questions Than Answers

_Chapter 10 – More Questions Than Answers_

Two rangers had succeeded in their vision quest, the remaining three though would prove more difficult. Ron and Tori dropped into some long grass just as the sun was setting over the horizon. Ron immediately recognised the ramshackle building in front of him, "This is The Burrow", he gasped, "this is my house".

"Huh, what are the chances", Tori commented, "these visions quests really freak me out".

"Have you done these often then?" Ron asked.

"One or twice", Tori sighed, "one of the joys of being a ninja". The sun had almost completely set now, bathing the gardens in an orange hue, "Let's get going, the longer we're here the greater the danger".

Not feeling overly reassured, Ron nervously pushed on the door to his family home. The kitchen was deserted so he proceeded into the front room where he found a duplicate Ron Weasley sitting stiffly on the sofa, "Ok that's creepy", Tori commented, "very Hannibal Lecter".

Ron had no idea who that was so he didn't respond to his fellow blue ranger. Instead he focused on his duplicate, getting close enough to practically touch the image. Strangely though, the clone made no attempt to move, "Is there some word or phrase I need to use?" he asked but still the clone remained motionless. "Come on do something, hit me with your best shot".

Dream Ron finally moved, looking his counterpart over for a few moments before he said, "You're not good enough for her". Ron looked like he had been punched in the gut and took a step back, "That's all it took to repel the mighty blue ranger, you're pathetic".

"Ouch, low blow there dude", Tori hissed in reply

"See even now someone has to come to your defence", Dream Ron began, "you can't stay in the shadow of the Boy-Who-Lived forever", a vicious smiled formed on his face, "do you want to be the sidekick for the rest of your life?"

Ron straightened his back and took a couple of paces towards his duplicate, "I'm no one's sidekick",

"Then why don't you prove it", Dream Ron grinned evilly and pulled out his wand. Ron went to do the same only to find, to his horror, that it wasn't there, "Now then little Ronniekins, that would too easy", his duplicate fired off a string of spells. The blue ranger ducked and rolled away quickly, fortunately to avoid the damaging blast, "Is this the best the Mystic Squadron could offer?"

Ron paused, thinking about his next move. He had Tori backing him up but this duplicate was extremely powerful. Charging into battle head on could prove disastrous, instead he needed to use his head, "Over there", he directed Tori to a worn looking armchair, "Distract him, I'll attack from the other side".

"I don't think it's a good idea fighting yourself", Tori commented, "I tried that once, really didn't work".

"Yeah well this is me", Ron replied, "I never do things the easy way". Tori reluctantly followed Ron's direction, not that the clone was giving them much choice. Another powerful string of curses turned several items in the Weasley leaving room into splinters.

The blue rangers split up with Ron seemingly disappearing through a cloud of debris, "Running away Ronald", his duplicate taunted, "I never pegged you for a coward, maybe we should talk this through", he added sarcastically.

"Actions speak louder than words mate", Ron smiled, "now Tori", he cried. The blue Wind ranger obliged with a jet of water that slammed the copy through the window at the end of the room. Ron jumped through the gap, landing just in front of the recovering copy, "I'll show you what this blue ranger can do". Two swift haymakers nearly dropped the clone to its knees. Clearly wobbling, the duplicate aimed some sloppy attacks at the blue ranger which Ron easily dodged. A flick of his wrist propelled the clone up into the air where he seemingly transformed into a rolling vehicle with the head of a unicorn.

Ron breathed deeply, his hand resting on his knees, "Unorthodox", the mysterious voice from the sky called, "and certainly not the point of the exercise".

"It worked didn't it?" Ron countered, "our objective was to claim these Zord things which I've done".

"You might've claimed the Pegasus Zord Ronald Weasley but you have learned nothing", the voice added, "that might come back to haunt you and your team in the near future".

"Wow talk about creepy", Tori climbed through the window, glass crunching under her feet, "creepy but right, you really need to work on your inner self Ron".

"I'll add it to my to do list", he commented dryly. Tori rolled her eyes but said nothing to her protégé as they were transported back to the real world.

Back with the pink rangers, Cho and Karone were surprised to see they were transported back to the same ridge where the legendary Chi Warriors were fighting. The battle was long over, in fact before their eyes they watched several centuries of history play out, "This is incredible", Karone commented, "look how everything changed".

"Not necessarily for the best though", the current pink ranger replied, "after this battle the Rishi tribe scattered over the world. Only my ancestors remained in the area to protect the seal".

"The same seals this Voldemort person broke?" Karone asked, "weren't any of your family around to protect them?"

"Sadly not", Cho stated bitterly, "this area was invaded by the Japanese in the 1930's forcing my great grandparents to flee westwards. Eventually my grandparents settled in Britain but their ideological differences with the Chinese government means their ancestral home is lost forever".

The pair watched as most of what Cho explained happened in the valley below. The once isolated region of the country was overrun by invading forces, firstly the Japanese army then the rebel Chinese fighters. The damage caused was never fully repaired as time caught up with the pink rangers. The once thriving village crumbled to dust and ruins, completely abandoned by everyone, "Make you wonder why they bothered fighting in the first place", Cho shook her head.

"This could all change very quickly", Karone began, "my home planet looked like this not so long ago but with a bit of hard work it could all be restored". She didn't add that her Astronema persona had been the one to cause most of that damage. Cho knew though, Karone hadn't kept her past a secret from the Rangers.

"I appreciate the sentiment but you can't change the geo-political environment that easily", the current pink ranger sighed.

"Am I always this dreary", a duplicate of Cho suddenly appeared in front of the pair, "I'm some heavy eyeliner and a Smith's album away from a cliché". The duplicate paused and sang slightly offkey, " _Heavens knows I'm miserable now",_ there was a temporary pause before the copy added, "must be hard being Cho Chang, smart, beautiful, a talented seeker and yet you're so alone".

"I'm not alone", Cho spat back.

"And yet your thoughts tell me something different", Dream Cho began, "maybe if you dropped the snarky attitude and let people through your walls you wouldn't have to spend all your spare time training".

Cho rocked on her feet as she tried to think of a suitable comeback but her duplicate could only speak the truth. "You're right, it's time to let go of everything. We won't truly be a team until I do that".

Her duplicate smiled, "I knew there was a reason I was in Ravenclaw", Dream Cho held out her hands as a wave of pink energy moved towards the real pink ranger, "remember this moment", Dream Cho added before fading away to the cry of a phoenix.

Karone nodded in respect, "She was really mean, and I thought my quest was difficult".

"You've done a vision quest before?" Cho asked, "would've been nice to know that early.

"Mine was different, more a quest of atonement than a vision quest", the pink Galaxy ranger replied, "still ended up fighting myself though". The blonde placed a hand on Cho's shoulder, "That image was right though, it would be easy to shut yourself away. Your team are your strength, remember that in the future". The teen nodded in appreciation just as they were teleported away.

The two red rangers dropped into a surreal landscape, everything around them was stark white. There was no obvious floor beyond the solid structure they were standing on and no horizon in sight, "Typical, the red ranger gets the hardest test", Casey shook his head.

"Comes with the suit I guess", their bland environment was brighten by the appearance of another Harry Potter, "You're a difficult one to read Potter".

"Maybe those Occulmancy lessons with Snape did some good after all", Harry shrugged.

"See this is what I'm talking about", Dream Harry began, "you don't seem to taking all of this seriously".

"We're fighting monsters whilst wearing spandex, nothing about this is serious", Harry replied.

"You're on cruise control Harry", his duplicate began, "and you have been since entering the Wizarding World. You've been so reliant on other's showing you the way that you've forgotten how to think for yourself".

"That's not true", Harry said with a hint of hesitation.

"There are many times that you could've taken control of you own destiny but you've let them all slip by and look what it's cost you". Dream Harry turned his back as the real Harry thought about his words. Maybe there was some truth in his statement, even though he hated his fame he could've used it to his advantage. Maybe if he learned more about his heritage then he wouldn't be so reliant on others.

But one memory was stuck at the forefront of his mind, "Remember the last time I lead a team", Harry began, "that didn't turn out so well".

"You're talking about the Department of Mysteries", Dream Harry replied and the real Harry nodded. "It wasn't a total failure, six teens fought off a bunch of Death Eaters, destroyed the prophecy and forced Voldemort out into the open. Some would call that a victory".

"I don't think Sirius would", Harry countered, the death of his godfather still hurt him even a year later.

"I'm not going to lie to you Harry, there's going to be a time when you as the leader will have to make a difficult decision", his counterpart replied and placed an arm on his shoulder.

"Can you promise me that all my friends will be alright?" Harry asked.

Dream Harry shook his head, "No I can't". The pair fell into silence for a few moments before Dream Harry continued, "I can see that we're at an impasse so I'm going to give you this", he pressed a red glass orb into Harry's hand, "if you can demonstrate the skills required to the Red Dragon Zord then he's all yours".

"And if I can't?" Harry asked.

"Let's not think about that", Dream Harry replied ominously, "now it's time for you to wake up, your test drive is about to begin". Harry was about to question his counterpart but he suddenly felt like someone or something was shaking his body.

"Harry, Harry wake up", Ginny was shaking her boyfriend vigorously by the shoulders.

"You've got the bed side manner of a troll do you know that", Harry smiled as he slowly begun to wake up. Ginny slapped him on the warm before giving him a firm kiss.

"I don't want to break this up", Tommy called out and the young couple quickly broke apart, "but your team could use your help".

"What's going on", Harry quickly stood up and approached one of the new features in the training room. Cho and Hermione had been able to charm a map of the United Kingdom to show precisely where an attack was taking place. It would prevent them from teleporting to an unknown location and give them time to prepare for an attack.

"Voldemort's taking a more direct approach this time", Ginny placed her wand on the map and it began to zoom in on the location of the current attack.

"It's Hogwarts", Harry gasped, there was a small army of Cedals heading in the general direction of the school.

"The others are already on the scene", Tommy began, "you'd better get there now".

"Did you get the Red Dragon Zord?" Ginny asked the red ranger.

Harry hesitated for a moment as he felt the weight of the crystal orb in his pocket, "Yeah I did", he lied and quickly teleported to the scene of the battle. Harry had to hope that he could convince the Red Dragon he was worthy in the real world because he hadn't been too convincing in the dream world.

With the current red ranger gone, Ginny turned to Casey and asked, "He didn't get the zord did he?"

"No" Casey sighed, "looks like Harry's test will be in the field rather than in his head". The Jungle Fury ranger turned to the other veterans, "How did the others get on?"

"Mixed results", Tori answered for the group, "the quest identified their weakness, however, they won't be able to overcome them in just one day". She paused for a moment before adding, "I'm most concerned about Ron, I really don't think he understood the purpose of this quest".

"Sounds like my brother", Ginny sighed, "hopefully his pig headedness won't upset the team's balance". With the Red Dragon Zord reluctant to trust it's pilot and the other ranger's fumbling through their own insecurities, all everyone could do was hope.


	11. Chariots of Fire

_Chapter 11 – Chariots Of Fire_

When Harry arrived on the scene, the monster had just turned into a giant. The creature had a largely grey body with an elongate red upper body and head. At first glance the monsters body seemed to have been styled after some lipstick. His friends were defending the bridge across the ravine that lead into Hogwarts itself. If the monster got past them then, the school wouldn't stand a chance.

"Harry good timing", Hermione began, "looks like we get to use our new zords".

The red ranger gripped the orb in his hand tightly, this would be his only chance to show the Red Dragon Zord that he was worthy of its powers. "Anything I should know about this monster?" he asked the others.

"Apparently her name is Lady Rouge", Cho replied, "and she's a lot tougher than she appears", the pink ranger added.

Underneath his helmet Harry took a deep breath, it was now or never. He turned towards the school and thrust his hand into the sky, "Red Dragon Zord arise", he called. There was a large rumble of thunder and the mighty zord appeared from the sky. Harry grabbed his Star Blaster and fired a metal rope towards the zord. Moments later he was pulled into the sky and landed on the head of the metal dragon, "Woah, this is amazing", he exclaimed as his zord dived towards the monster.

The Red Dragon Zord opened its mouth and unleashed a powerful of fire that threatened to engulf Lady Rouge. The monster swiftly side stepped the attack and swung a fist towards the flying zord. Harry felt the vibration of the attack rock his zord and for a moment he felt like he was going to fall off. Before he lost his footing a pair of clamps grabbed him by the feet and locked him into place, "Thanks", Harry said to his zord, "but maybe I should stand somewhere a little safer".

Once again the zord responded and the red ranger was lowered into the cockpit. In front of Harry was a metal table with a glowing red orb in the centre. Behind him was a pulsing Chinese symbol superimposed on the image of a dragon. Harry looked around the cockpit and found a small receptacle that was the same size and shape as the orb in his hand. "Can't be a coincidence", Harry muttered to himself and placed the orb into the slot.

The other rangers watched in awe as the neck and tail of the Red Dragon folded up until they were parallel to each other, forming a pair of legs. The original arms and legs of the dragon linked together so they became a pair of humanoid arms. The whole structure began to twist until it took the basic shape of a human. Finally the dragon's head lowered to reveal a humanoid face and attached to the top of the zord, "Blimey Harry doesn't do things by halves does he", Ron whistled as he looked up at the Red Dragon Battlezord.

In the cockpit of the zord Harry was trying to work out how to control his new craft. There weren't any obvious controls, only the red orb, "Maybe if I touch this", Harry said and lowered his hand towards the orb. He felt a small prick in the back of his mind as he linked up with his zord. Lady Rouge had run out of patience with the red ranger and began to charge towards the Battlezord. Instinctively Harry thought about blocking the attack and the zord responded to his request. The Battlezord raised its arms, parrying the blow before countering with a punch of its own.

Lady Rouge grew more frustrated and sent an energy pulse towards the Battlezord. The zord responded by calling on a staff like the one the rangers used and deflected the blast. With another swing of its staff it sliced down the face of Rouge, drawing a cry of despair from the monster. "My precious face", she screamed, "you'll pay for this". The monster unleashed a volley of attacks on the Red Dragon Battlezord and Harry was quickly struggling to keep up. One blow caught the zord in the chest and sent it tumbling to the ground.

Confident in her victory, Lady Rouge turned away from the Battlezord and starting moving on the school. In desperation the zord grabbed her legs to stop her from moving, "Pathetic ranger", Rouge turned around and kicked the Battlezord in the abdomen, sending it rolling through the weeds.

"Damn it", Harry cursed as he struggled to right his zord, "I can't do this alone". A metaphorical lightblub went off in Harry's head, he had been trying for the last six years to face Voldemort alone when all the time he had plenty of people around him who could assist. "This is what you meant about strong leadership isn't it", he addressed the Red Dragon Zord. A mental nod told him that he was correct, "A true leader knows how to use all the tools in his arsenal to produce the best results". Again he got a mental nod of approval from his zord, "Then I know what I need to do", he placed his hand over the control orb, "Guys I need your help", he called out over the communication system.

"One step ahead of you mate", Dean replied from the green coloured cockpit of his zord. The Lion Zord rolled across the ground, its front legs moving periodically. The zord had black legs with green and gold accents. The main body of the zord was also black but with a green face. A gold pattern around the head gave the appearance of a mane. The Lion Zord rammed into the legs of Lady Rouge, stopping her in her tracks.

"Save some for me", Hermione called out from the Griffin Zord. Like the Lion Zord it rolled along the ground, its yellow upper body rocking back and forth. The Griffin Zord sped toward Lady Rouge and quickly blocked further access to Hogwarts.

"Why do I get lumbered with the unicorn", Ron continued to grumble about his mythical beast. The craft was actually the Pegasus Zord as its head lacked the extended horn of a unicorn. Apart from the head, the design of the zord was almost identical to the Griffin Zord. The Pegasus Zord let out a battle cry as a large rock began to levitate in front of the craft. The object was propelled at the monster, further damaging the cut on its face.

"Quit your whining Weasley", Cho chuckled as her Phoenix Zord streaked through the sky. Its dark pink wings flapped and it slowly began to turn its body into a vertical position. It began to generate a strong gust of wind that prevented Lady Rouge from advancing towards the others, "Here's your opening Potter", the pink ranger called out.

Harry smiled at the support from his fellow rangers and was finally able to right his zord. With Lady Rouge still distracted from the onslaught, the Battlezord was giving a clear shot of the monster. It swung its staff towards Lady Rouge, knocking the monster away from the bridge but crucially she still wasn't defeated. "Maybe I need a little more momentum", Harry muttered to himself.

In each of the rangers cockpits, their control orb began to glow, "What's going on?" Ron asked.

"I think it wants us to combine our powers", Hermione replied over the radio.

In the Battlezord Harry agreed with his friend, "Everyone think about combining our Chi energy", he began, "let's see what our zords can really do". The Lion Zord rolled forward until it linked up with the Griffin Zord on its left and the Pegasus Zord on its right. The Phoenix Zord landed across the back so its wings were touching the Griffin and Pegasus Zords. Finally the Red Dragon Battlezord stepped onto the flat floor created up the other four zords. "Mystic Chariot", Harry called out, "take flight".

The Mystic Chariot slowly took to the air before crashing into Lady Rouge, this time she was sent tumbling down the ravine. The monster bounced off several rocks before landing in the shallow stream at the bottom. The Mystic Chariot lurched higher into the air before completing a tight loop. It was now diving down into the ravine at tremendous speed and heading straight towards Lady Rouge.

The red ranger instructed the Battlezord to step out of its bindings and place a foot on the head of Lion Zord in front. Just before hitting the ground, it jumped off the Chariot with its staff at the ready. With the extra momentum the staff had enough energy to cleave through the monster. Lady Rouge stumbled a couple of times before falling to the ground in a shower of sparks. The Red Dragon Battlezord skidded across the ground and took a moment to pose. "Bloody show off", Ron said with a small smile in the direction of his friend.

"Alright Harry that's enough posing, we should probably get back", Hermione added over the radio.

"Can't you let me have this moment", Harry responded with a huff but the yellow ranger was right. The zords were dismissed and the rangers returned to Hogwarts as the remains of Lady Rouge smouldered away underneath them.

Back in their training room the rangers were talking excitedly about their new zords and their latest victory against Lord Voldemort and the Gormal. Ginny and the veteran rangers were barely able to keep up with the chatter from the group but they were pleased to see the rangers come out on top. Unseen by the group, Professor Dumbledore made his way into the room, "I see congratulations are in order", he called out from a dark corner of the room. He slowly made his way over to the teens, "I see you have claimed the Mythical Beasts".

Casey positioned himself just behind the current red ranger, "Is there anything you would like to share about your experience in the dream world", he stated.

The teens looks nervously at each other before Harry began, "I learned that I can't do everything by myself", he said to his friends, "I learned that being a good leader means accepting help once in a while".

"It's a miracle", Hermione threw her hands in the air, "I've been trying to tell you that for years". The brown haired girl smiled at her friend before adding, "I've learned more about myself and the rest of us in the last few hours than I learned in the last few years". She looked directly at the pink ranger, "Perhaps some of us are more alike than we think".

Cho smiled in appreciation at the yellow ranger, "Maybe you're not so bad as I first thought", she paused for a moment, "I've never really had many friends over the years, perhaps things will be different now".

"But you were always surrounded by people", Ron began, "weren't they your friends?"

"Groupies is probably a better term", Cho shrugged, "I wouldn't really call them my friends". She wrapped an arm around her body, "I guess I don't want to be lonely anymore", she added with a small voice.

"Well you have us now", Dean replied, "and I'm not going to sit in the background anymore". He looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione with a small smile, "It's time for me to emerge from the shadow of the so called golden trio".

Tori nodded at the green ranger before turning her attention to Ron, "Anything you want to add Ron?"

The blue ranger looked at the floor for a moment, thinking about what his apparition said, "No I think I'm good for now".

The veterans looked nervously amongst themselves, someone wasn't being honest with themselves, "I see", Professor Dumbledore responded with a tone that suggested he wasn't convinced, "you must be tired after that battle, why don't you go and get some rest". The teens slowly began to troop out the training room until just Ginny was left, "Your brother wasn't being very honest with us", the headmaster said to the youngest Weasley.

"Ron's a stubborn git", Ginny replied honestly, "it's hard to get any recognition when you're one of seven children. Bill's a talented curse breaker, Charlie's a dragon tamer, Percy's high up in the Ministry, the twins have their new business and I'm the only Weasley girl for generations". She sighed, "He's always had an inferiority complex but he's a good person".

"I know Miss Weasley, the Pegasus Zord wouldn't have chosen him if he wasn't", Dumbledore replied.

"I'll keep an eye on him", Ginny said, "perhaps I can talk some sense into him". The Headmaster nodded in response and let the red haired girl depart but he was worried about the blue ranger. Dumbledore and the other veteran rangers would need to keep a close eye on him because the team were only as strong as their weakest link. If Ron was unable to boost his self-confidence then he could lead to the downfall of the Mystic Squadron.


	12. Hermione, The Scarlet Woman

_Chapter 12 – Hermione, The Scarlet Woman_

The Gryffindor common room was quiet that afternoon as the warm weather had led everyone outside to enjoy a rare sunny day. There was one student left inside slumped over a desk though, her frizzy brown hair draped across a wet piece of parchment and a nearby ink well. Suddenly the portrait door opened startling Hermione and she sat bolt upright in her chair. A couple of second years ran past the yellow ranger and laughed, the piece of parchment was now stuck to the side of her face. She plucked it off and cursed that some of the words had been smudged.

Ever since Cho had joined the team, Hermione had been trying to find a counter curse for the jinx that had disfigured the pink ranger's friend. After her experience in the dream world she had doubled her effort to keep her promise to the seventh year student. Hermione quickly corrected the parchment and ran out the common room, wiping some ink off her face in the process.

She meandered in the general direction of Ravenclaw Tower, hoping to bump into the pink ranger. Occasionally a few people chuckled at her frazzled appearance but she ignored them and continued with her journey. Eventually she found her target walking towards the great hall with a couple of friends, "Hey Cho", she called out, "could I have a word".

"Make it quick Granger", she spat out and asked her friends to carry on without her. "Sorry about my tone, we're not meant to be friends after all".

"Don't worry about it", Hermione waived away Cho's comments, "here's the cure for Marietta, hopefully it'll work instantly".

Cho took the piece of parchment and gave it the once over, "Wow I wasn't expecting you to keep your word", she smiled.

"We're on the same team now so let's start with a clean slate", the yellow ranger replied.

"Thanks Granger", Cho began, "I'm sure Marietta will appreciate this". The pink ranger gave her team mate the once over, "How long have you spent working on this?"

"Not sure", Hermione responded, "the hours sort of blurred together after a while".

Cho laughed, "I can tell, most girls wouldn't dare leave the common room with their hair in that state", Cho grabbed a few strands that had been stained with ink.

Outwardly Hermione wasn't usually bothered about her appearance but it was a slightly sensitive subject for her. She had been teased for most of her life about her wild hair and prominent teeth, "Oh I didn't even notice", she said with a flustered tone, "anyway better go", she added and hurried in the other direction.

"Hermione I wasn't trying to be nasty", Cho called out but the yellow ranger didn't hear her, "damn it", she cursed and ran a hand through her hair.

Hermione vaguely heard Cho calling after her but she wanted to get to somewhere private as soon as possible. She turned a corner and was nearly tripped up by something on the floor. She looked down and saw a mirror with a bulky blue handle. Hermione looked around but couldn't see who had dropped it. She bent down and picked up the mirror, taking a quick look at her reflection in the process, "Cho was right I do look a state", she sighed. Hermione lowered the mirror, "I wish I was as pretty as some of the other girls in the school", she added and continued towards the tower. What she didn't see was the mirror glowing in her hand.

The following morning Harry, Ron and Dean were waiting outside the Great Hall for Hermione to arrive. "It's not like her to be late", Harry said to the others as he looked at his watch.

"Doesn't she know its breakfast time", Ron groaned.

"Seriously what's wrong with your metabolism", Dean shook his head.

"My metaba-what?" Ron looked at the green ranger in confusion.

The trio heard some hurried footsteps heading in their direction. Initially they thought it was Hermione but it was actually Ginny, "There's something seriously wrong with Hermione", she said to the group.

"Yeah she's late", Ron complained.

"It's more serious than that", Ginny began but she stopped as the sound of heels clicking on the stone floor reached their ears, "take a look for yourselves", she added.

The boys stared down the corridor, there was a Gryffindor student heading their direction. She had straight brown hair that swayed with each step. Her shirt was unbuttoned to her stomach, revealing a yellow top underneath. She was wearing a skirt that stopped mid thigh and a pair of black high heels. It took the boys a few moments to recognise the girl but when they did they got the shock of their lives, "Hello boys", Hermione flashed them half smile.

"H-Hermione", Harry stammered, "you look different".

"Got tired of the old look", she brushed her brown hair behind her ear, "thought it was time for a change". Ron didn't say a word, instead he just stared at the yellow ranger, "Aww you're drooling Ronnie", she said with a mocking tone. She took a couple of steps towards Ron until her body was lightly touching his, "Play your cards right and you might get to see what's underneath". Ron's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

"Are you still helping me study for my OWLs", Ginny called out.

"Please", Hermione scoffed, "I've got more important things to do". She looked Dean in the eyes and placed a hand on his cheek, "Don't wait up for me", she tapped the green ranger's cheek and walked off down the corridor.

Harry and Dean craned their necks to get a better view of the departing Hermione. Ginny rolled her eyes at the behaviour of the pair and slapped them both around the back of the head, "Oi stop staring at her arse".

"Hey I'm a single guy, why did you hit me?" Dean rubbed the back of his head.

"Felt like it", Ginny shrugged.

Moments later the group were joined by Cho, "Was that Hermione?" she asked before noticing the unconscious Ron, "What happened to him?"

"Puberty I think", Harry began, "and yes that was Hermione".

"Blimey she scrubs up good doesn't she", Cho whistled.

"It's not just her looks", Ginny began, "she also turned down the opportunity to study".

"Something is definitely wrong", Harry said, "let's head to the training room and get the others to meet us there. Maybe the others have come across something like this before". The others nodded and Harry cast a levitation spell on Ron, floating him towards their training room.

Half an hour later Ron had been revived but he still had a far-away look in his eyes. The veteran dotted around the room listened intently as the current Rangers explained what happened, "She's under a spell", all five announced simultaneously much to the surprise of the teens.

"I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your kind of magic", Karone added as the most experienced with magic, "is there any normal spell that would cause her to act like this?"

"To this level only the Imperius", Harry replied, "if you're unable to resist its effects, you could do almost anything".

"Her eyes looked clear to me", Dean replied.

"Was that before or after you burned a hole in her posterior with your stare", Ginny snorted.

"I refused to comment on that", the green ranger said before turning back to Karone, "the Imperius usually leaves the victim with a cloudy look in their eyes".

"Your Chi is just a more powerful form of magic though", Karone stated, "so in theory a Chi powered Imperius might not leave any clues, right?"

"It's possible", Cho replied, "but I've never heard of anything like this before. I could ask my Uncle and see how we could turn her back to normal".

"Do we want to though, that's the question", Ron finally chipped into the conversation.

"Stop thinking with your gentleman's sausage and be serious", Cho snapped, "anyone else got a more serious suggestion?"

There was silence amongst the group for a few moments before Tommy spoke up, "Did you see Hermione with anything or anyone that you didn't recognise?" he asked.

"A mirror", Ginny snapped her fingers, "she had a weird mirror in her hand this morning", she turned to Dean, "could you help me with a sketch". The green ranger nodded and grabbed a loose sheet of parchment and a pencil. He drew a sketch of the mirror based on the younger teen's description before showing it to the group.

"I've seen this before", Cho said and summoned a book to her hand, "my Uncle gave me this book on the Gormal nobility as part of my training", she added and thumbed through the pages, "ah ha, found you", she exclaimed.

"The Mirror of Dreams", Harry read from the page, "whoever holds the mirror and makes a wish will see their wildest dreams come true".

"Doesn't sound like something Hermione would do", Ginny began, "unless she did it without realising".

"It gets worse", Harry continued to read, "unless the spell is broken, the soul of the wisher will belong to the Gormal within 24 hours".

"And we have no idea when she found the mirror", Dean shook his head, "where is she now?"

Harry activated the Marauder's Map and scanned the school, "The Astronomy Tower and she's in very close proximity with McLaggen".

"We'd better get to her before she does something she'll regret", Tori said to the others. He grabbed Ron by the collar, "Come on lover boy, let's go", he dragged Ron out of the training room, closely followed by everyone else.

When the group got to the Astronomy Tower, they came across Hermione and Cormac McLaggen in a state of embrace. Fortunately both of them were still clothed so they had got there in time, "Hermione stop, you're under a spell", Harry called out.

"Yeah mine", McLaggen said with a smirk.

"Maybe you should leave us alone", Dean said with a wave of his hand. The older boy shone a deep shade of green before he slowly stumbled out the door, "Huh wasn't sure if that would work", he shrugged.

"Hey what's the big idea", Hermione shrieked, "I was having a good time until you lot showed up".

"Yeah we could see", Ron grumbled, "you've been placed under a spell by the Gormal".

"I'm so done with that", Hermione scoffed and took off her morpher, "here Ginny you take my place".

The red head snatched the morpher out the air, "Doesn't work like that Hermione, your team needs you".

"Of course they do, who wouldn't want a beauty like me beside them", Hermione flipped her hair.

"But you already were that beauty Hermione", Cho began, "if anything I'm envious of how confident you are with your appearance".

For a moment it looked like Hermione was faltering but she quickly shook her head, "I'm bored with this conversation", she said and made for the exit.

"Hermione wait", Ginny grabbed her arm but the yellow ranger twisted it until the girl cried out in pain. Cho came to the red heads rescue and broke Hermione's hold but the yellow ranger used some of her enhanced speed to evade the pink ranger. She aimed a roundhouse kick at the older girl but Cho was able to duck underneath it, "I should be annoyed but I'm jealous that you can do that in those heels and skirt".

"I'm just getting started sweetie", Hermione smiled and elbowed the pink ranger in the ribs before once again heading for the door, putting in a Chi powered burst of speed.

"Stop", Ron called and the yellow ranger stopped in her tracks. The blue ranger used his gravity power to prevent Hermione from moving. Ginny rummaged through Hermione's bag until she found the mirror. She threw it into the air and Harry turned it into dust with a fireball.

Hermione sunk to her knees and grabbed her head, "Urgh what happened to me", she then looked down at her outfit, "and why am I dressed like a stripper?"

"That is a long story", Harry chuckled and began to relay the story to the yellow ranger.

"So destroying the mirror broke the spell?" Hermione asked once Harry was finished.

"Usually works", Tommy replied, "it certainly did for Rita's spells anyway".

Hermione nodded and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Oh God I was kissing Cormac, this is so embarrassing and I was really rude to all of you".

"Apology accepted", Harry smiled.

"And I'm sorry too", Cho added, "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about your appearance".

"I know", Hermione smiled and extended her hand, "friends?" Cho smiled and shook her hand, "alright I need to go and take a shower, I feel really dirty". She took a couple of tentative steps but stumbled due to the heels, "How on earth did I walk in these things?"

She took another step and stumbled again, this time though Ron was able to catch her, "I think you look nice", he blushed, "maybe a little too much on display though".

"Alright Ron, leave it there before you humiliate yourself again", Dean slapped the blue ranger on the back. Hermione took off her shoes and handed them to Ron, giving him a reassuring smile. Having your body taken over by the Gormal wasn't a pleasant experience but maybe some good did come out of it.

There was one thing on everyone's mind though, how did a Gormal artefact find its way to Hogwarts without being carried by a monster. The only answer they could come up with was unthinkable, Voldemort had an agent in the school. The rangers would be to be alert against this possible threat because not even the school was safe anymore.


	13. The Birth of the Mystic Megazord

_Chapter 13 – The Birth Of The Mystic Megazord_

The following few days after the incident with the mirror had been hectic for the rangers. They had stepped up their training to ensure they wouldn't get manipulated in the same way again. With some extra training from the veteran Rangers, the teens were close to mastering their basic Chi powers. After their lessons had finished for the day, Professor Dumbledore had summoned them to administer a special test of their new abilities.

The rangers stood in a line inside their training room and each of them had a different object on front of them. The Headmaster walked slowly behind the teens before speaking, "All of you have come a long way but the question is how far?" He stood behind Harry and opposite the red ranger was a straw dummy. With a nod of his head, Harry flicked his wrist and the dummy burst into flame, "The power of fire, excellent", he praised the red ranger.

"Can I go next", Hermione raised her hand, leading to much eye rolling from the others.

"Do not mock", Dumbledore chastised them, "all of you could learn something from Miss Granger's attitude". He bowed to the yellow ranger and pointed towards the pedestal opposite her, "I would like you to remove the golden cup without being seen", Hermione nodded and blinked her eyes. A fraction of a second later the cup had moved into her hand.

"Blimey", Ron gushed.

"Eloquently put as always Mr Weasley", The Headmaster said with an even tone before turning back to the yellow ranger, "a true master of speed and time can make anything look effortless". He walked down the line until he was next to Cho, "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you have the most experience".

Cho smiled and turned towards her pedestal which had a large egg sitting on top. Cho waived her arm and a strong gust of wind blew the egg off the pedestal. It was about to hit the ground when another blast of air kept it in the air. Slowly but surely it drifted towards the pink ranger until it rested comfortably in her outstretched hand.

"Very good", Dumbledore began, "although don't let it get so close to the ground next time", he added, causing Cho to pout. "Now onto our green ranger", he tapped Dean on the shoulder, "on your pedestal is a lead bar. I want to believe that it's a bar of solid gold".

"Transfiguration isn't my best subject", Dean said as he cracked his knuckles.

"This test is slightly different than transfiguration", the wizard replied, "you don't have to physically change the bar, just my perception of it's appearance". Dean nodded slowly and turned his attention to the lead bar. At first nothing happened but a few moments later the bar appeared to change into gold. "Good job Mr Thomas", he praised the green ranger.

Ron had watched all his fellow rangers succeed and he was growing more nervous with each test. Everyone else had passed with flying colours, what if he failed? Would that mean he was expelled from the team? He had always struggled with his Chi power from the very beginning, almost every time he couldn't complete his assignments on the first attempt. "Last but by no means least", Dumbledore voice dragged Ron away from his thoughts, "You'll see two different items on your pedestal, a feather and an iron bar. All you have to do is levitate them off the pedestal".

"You make it sound so easy", Ron mumbled to himself. In theory it shouldn't be any more difficult to life the feather than the lump of iron. The blue ranger thrust his hand out and the feather rose into the air but the iron bar stayed in the same place. He tried again, however, the iron block shot up into the air at tremendous speed, crashing into the roof.

The other rangers sniggered but Ling wasn't impressed and shook his head. Ron sighed and his shoulders slumped, "What have I told you Mr Weasley, the concept of weight in all in your mind", the old man said.

"Clearly I'm not getting this", Ron walked away and sat down on a nearby mat.

"Ron don't be like this", Hermione began, "you just need a little more practice".

"That's all I have been doing", Ron replied, "I've tried for hours but I'm just not as good as the rest of you".

Before anyone else could talk to the blue ranger their morphers bleeped, indicating an attack somewhere in the country. The teens quickly rushed over to the map, "Looks like Voldemort's attention has shifted to the north of England", Harry stated, "lets get going".

"Not you Mr Weasley", Professor Dumbledore called out.

"But Professor, we need him", Dean responded.

"Without control over his Chi, he will be a liability", Dumbledore began, "now off you go". The others hesitated for a moment before apparating away to the battle. Ron slumped on a mat in a sulk and placed his hands behind his head, "What am I going to do with you Mr Weasley?" the Headmaster sighed and sat down next to the blue ranger.

"Not much you can do", Ron sighed, "perhaps you should find a replacement".

Dumbledore shook his head, "Now you know that isn't possible".

"Then maybe whatever force gave me these powers made a mistake", Ron sat upright and faced the old man, "everyone else is better than me, even my own sister can sometimes beat me in a sparring match and she doesn't have any extra powers".

The Headmaster frowned and thought about the blue ranger's words for a few moments. He was getting closer to understanding the roots of Ron's difficulties, now all he needed to do was find a solution. Perhaps he needed to approach this in a different way, "Maybe we just need to find something that works for you". He stood up and began to pace, "Focusing on your element is one way of channelling Chi but it isn't the only way. I'm asking a pure blooded wizard to focus on gravity, something I sure you hadn't heard of until a few weeks ago".

"That's not true", Ron interrupted, "I think Hermione mentioned it a few times before".

"Ah yes, Miss Granger", Dumbledore smiled, "she has a great mind and he's very pretty too". Ron's cheeks flushed red as the Headmaster smiled, "perhaps we should see how she and the others are fairing in your absence". He grabbed Ron's hand and touched the morpher, instantly apparating them to the battle.

Ron landed with the thump on a hard metal surface and took a look around. He was on top of a large building with a flat metal roof. In the distance he could see a river with a curved bridge crossing from one bank to the other, "It's been a while since I visited this part of the world", Dumbledore called out from the other side of the building. He was looking down to the ground below as Ron approached him, "Fortunately this place has been abandoned for a while so there's no chance of anyone finding us".

Ron looked over the edge and saw the other four rangers battling a blue bodied monster with a horse shoe shaped head. In his hand was a red coloured rod that he was using to assault the rangers with, "Lord Magnatox", Dumbledore stated, "according to Miss Chang's book, his main power is like one of yours in that he can bind a person to the ground. His power is generated using a magnetic field rather than gravity".

"A magnetic what?" Ron asked.

"Perhaps you should have taken Muggle Studies Mr Weasley", the Professor sighed. Ron desperately wanted to jump in and help, however, the elderly grasped his arm and shook his head. The blue ranger could only watch helplessly as they were overpowered by Magnatox. After a few minutes, the rangers found themselves bound to the floor as the monster unleashed a powerful energy attack.

"No!" Ron called out as he friends were thrown against the side of the building. He clenched his fists in anger as he watched Hermione struggle to get to her feet.

"I think we've found your motivation", Dumbledore began, "you believe that you don't bring anything to the team but look where they'd be without you". Ron looked in his general direction, "Go and save her Mr Weasley".

Ron nodded and called on his morphers as he stepped on the edge of the roof. He ran along the side before jumping into the air, "Mystic Squadron, Transform", he morphed in mid and landed directly in front of Lord Magnatox.

"Ah I've been expecting you blue ranger", Magnatox smirked

Ron summoned his Star Rod and spun it above his head, "Careful watch you wish for", he growled before leaping towards the monster. His Rod clashed with Magnatox's staff with a resounding clang, pushing the monster back. Ron was relentless in attack, cracking the creature around the head on a couple of occasions. Magnatox tried to attack with a shot of his own but the blue ranger leapt over the staff.

He tried to blast Magnatox away with his gravity power and it briefly worked. Magnatox was able to react quickly and used his own magnetic power to get his feet back on the ground, "Nice try blue ranger", Magnatox chuckled, "let's give you a taste of your own medicine". Suddenly Ron felt his feet lock on the ground and he couldn't move, "Not so tough now", Magnatox laughed.

Ron tried to move but it was no use. He looked behind him and saw the others slowly scrambling to their feet. He then noticed that Hermione was walking with a limp, an after effect of Magnatox's attack. Ron's blood felt like it was going to boil and to his surprise, he began to inch forward, "Impossible", Magnatox cried in disbelief.

"This must be what Dumbledore was talking about", Ron muttered and he focused on that feeling. He twirled his staff again and left the ground. He began to run in mid air towards Magnatox and the end of his staff glowed bright blue. He swung his Star Rod in an upwards motion and knocked the monster into the air. Magnatox crashed to the ground in a broken heap several feet away.

"Ron that was amazing", Harry said as the others approached.

The blue ranger looked at his team mates, especially the yellow ranger, "I just needed to remember what I was fighting for", he smiled underneath his helmet. Their moment was spoiled by a rumbling noise from behind them as Magnatox began to grown, "Not this again", Ron groaned.

"Now we're all back together this'll be a piece of cake", Harry said to his team, "Mythical Beasts, arise". Their zords appeared in the abandoned industrial area and the rangers quickly jumped aboard, "Alright prepare to form the Mystic Chariot", Harry said over the communication system.

"No I have a better idea", Ron began, "the other rangers said their zords could combine into a Megazord, maybe ours can do that too".

"Not a bad idea Ron", Hermione replied causing the blue ranger to blush.

"Everyone channel your Chi", Harry added and touched his hand again the control orb. The Red Dragon converted into the Battlezord as the Griffin and Pegasus zord folding up at the front until they resembled a pair of legs. The Battlezord slipped his own legs into the two zords as the Lion Zord broke apart and formed some protective armour across the chest and arms. The Phoenix Zord wrapped around its waist before the final piece of the Lion Zord slotted into place like a helmet.

"Mystic Megazord", the rangers called out as they arrived in a shared cockpit.

"Let's see what this thing can do", Harry instructed his team as the Megazord marched purposefully towards the giant Lord Magnatox. The creature roared in anger and charged towards the Megazord, smashing it across the chest with his staff. The Megazord was unmoved and wrenched the staff out of his hand. He raised it high into the air before snapping it in two across its knee.

"Yeah we've got it on the ropes", Dean punched the air.

"Alright we're going to need all our Chi for this", Harry called out and the others nodded in agreement. The Megazord reached down to its waist and unsheathed a long, curved sword. Magnatox charged again but he was met with the blade of the Megazord. The Lord cried out in pain before crashing to the ground in a ball of fire.

On top of the roof Dumbledore smiled as the Megazord sheathed its sword and looked down over the city, "Well done Ron, I knew you could do it", he smiled before apparating away.

The battle had been late in the day so after returning to Hogwarts, the rangers had to get to their common rooms to avoid breaking curfew. Harry, Dean and Ron soon climbed up to their dormitories to get some sleep but Hermione stayed behind in the common room. It was approaching midnight when the Gryffindor teen heard someone walking down the stairs, "Hermione what are you still doing up?" Ron asked.

"Sorry I got distracted", she replied. On a table in front of her were a small pile of ashes that she poked with her wand. The pile shone with a bright red colour before fading away, "I thought I had it this time", she groaned.

"Is that the remains of the mirror?" the blue ranger asked as he took a seat next to his fellow ranger.

Hermione nodded, the rangers had saved some of the remains of the Gormal Mirror for further study. It could provide some valuable evidence about who planted it in the school, "Yeah but Harry did a very through at destroying it. I can't get any useful information from the remains".

"Can I try something", the yellow ranger nodded and Ron placed his hand above the ashes. A few seconds later a spark shot up and struck the blue ranger in the hand, "Blimey I wasn't expecting that", Ron exclaimed, shaking his hand.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked.

"Tried to channel some Chi", Ron replied, "I thought that maybe I could detect the culprits Chi signature".

Hermione gaped, "Ron, that's brilliant".

The blue ranger blushed, "Well it didn't work, all I could tell was that the signature was dark", he examined his hand for any burns, "very dark".

"You tried that's the main thing", Hermione swept the ashes into a pot as an awkward silence descended, "I never thanked you for saving us earlier".

"No need", Ron began, "if I had learned to control my Chi Power sooner you wouldn't have been in that position".

"Don't be so hard on yourself", Hermione slapped his arm, "you were there, that's all that counts". Almost on impulse she leaned across and kissed him on the cheek. Her eyes widened when she realised what she had done, "Well, night", she stuttered and quickly hurried up to bed. Ron was momentarily stunned but he managed to gently touch his cheek and smile. He leapt out of the chair and practically skipped up the stairs to his bed.


	14. Graduation Day

_Chapter 14 – Graduation Day_

The sound of quills scratching against parchment echoed throughout the vast expanse of the Great Hall. The seventh year students were completing their final NEWT exam, an arduous three hour History of Magic test. Several students were looking worried as they struggled to recall anything from their lessons with Professor Binns. Some even joked before they entered the hall that the final exam should have been staying awake during one of his lectures.

Sitting in the middle of the room was Cho, perhaps one of the more relaxing looking students in the hall. She chewed idly on the end of her quill whilst proof reading her final answers. Quite when she would use knowledge of the Goblin Rebellion of 1637 or the first wizard to use the jelly legs jinx she didn't know. "Last two minutes", the guest invigilator called out, leading to more furious writing from most of the students.

The pink ranger sighed and placed her quill down, if she wasn't going to write anything else then there was no point of staring at her test. She placed her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling and thought about the last few days. Voldemort had sent a couple more monsters loose in the country but with the new Megazord at their disposal, they were no match for the rangers. Hermione had been obsessively trying to work out who snuck in the mirror that cursed her last week, however, she was no closer to a solution. At least Ron had finally gotten his act together and was pulling his weight in training.

"Alright quills down", the examiner said, "please remain seated whilst we collect your parchments". A couple of older witches moved up and down the aisles and removed the test papers from their desks and finally the examiner added, "Excellent you're free to go".

There was a cheer from the student body as they ran as quickly out of the Great Hall as possible. All they had to do was stay out of trouble for the last couple of weeks and then their time at Hogwarts would be over, "Hey Cho", someone grabbed the pink ranger's arm.

"Hey Marietta", Cho smiled at her friend. A few days ago Cho had used the yellow ranger's countercurse and the facial scars had receded from her red headed friends face, "that was a little easier than I thought".

"Speak for yourself", Marietta scoffed, "I like what you've done with your hair", she flicked one of Cho's high pigtails that were held in place with a couple of pink hair bands. The pair exited the Great Hall and walked in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower, "So that's it then", Marietta began, "we're not students anymore".

"We're still here for another couple of week Mari", the pink ranger shook her head.

"Yeah but no more classes or tests", the red head was practically skipping down the corridor. "By the end of the month, we'll be out in the big wide world", she nudged her friend in the arm, "so what've you got planned".

Cho was momentarily silent, she hadn't really thought about life outside the castle too much. She was a decent flyer but not good enough to play professional Quidditch. There was always an admin job at the Ministry but given the current threat of Voldemort, she wasn't too keen on that either, "I'm not really sure", she finally replied, "probably help my Dad over the summer and think about it some more".

"Surely the great Cho Chang has better plans than that?" Marietta chucked. Cho wanted to reply that she did, saving the world from the Gormal and Voldemort but she couldn't say that. She hadn't thought what it would mean for the team, she would've graduated but her fellow rangers would be returning for their final year. Perhaps she could get a teaching assistants job with one of the professor, "Cho are you listening?" Marietta waived her hand in front of her face.

"Sorry I was miles away", Cho smiled back.

"I was saying that the seventh years are having a party in the tower tonight", her friend began, "I hear that someone snuck in some Muggle alcohol".

"Not tonight", Cho sighed, "I feel like relaxing", she checked her watch, "look I'll see you later". She quickly headed in the direction of the ranger's training room, leaving her confused friend behind.

A couple of hours later in the Ranger training room, the other ranger's were practicing on the central mat but Cho sat to one side and stared into space. She was still thinking about her upcoming graduation and what it would mean for the team and for her future. The pink ranger was so deep in thought that she didn't feel Ginny take a seat next to her, "Hey", the youngest Weasley elbowed her in the arm, "I've been calling your for the last couple of minutes".

Cho rubbed her arm, "Sorry I've been thinking and oww by the way", she added whilst rubbing her arm.

"Sorry it was the best way I could think of to get your attention", Ginny gave her a sweet smile that suggested she wasn't sorry at all, "Care to share, we are friends after all", Cho raised her eyebrows, "well allies at least".

The pink ranger sighed, "Just thinking about life outside of Hogwarts", she began, "I had my final exam today and I realised that I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life".

"Oh is that all", Ginny snorted, "and I thought it was something simple".

"I find it hard to tell when you're being serious sometimes Weasley", Cho half smiled.

"Join the club", Ginny began, "look none of us know what the future brings, for all we know Voldemort could storm the castle tomorrow and that'll be the end of everything".

"This is the worst pep talk in history Ginny", Cho sighed.

Whilst the other Ranger's were practicing, the veteran Rangers made their way into the room. Unfortunately they were unable to spend any additional time away from home and would be returning to America. Dustin placed his bag on the ground and jumped in next to the teens, "Hey guys, what's happening?"

Ginny placed a roll of parchment that she had been holding on the ground and turned to face the older teen, "Oh nothing, just Cho having a quarter life crisis".

The pink ranger rolled her eye, "Forgive me for worrying about what to do with the rest of my life", she replied dryly.

Tori was crouched over her bag, carefully folding her clothes, "Try living in the moment. If you spend too long worrying about tomorrow then you'll forget to enjoy today".

"Shall I tell Blake that", Dustin snorted, "maybe next time you'll accept his marriage proposal".

"I'm still young", Tori replied defensively, "plenty of time yet".

Their conversation was interrupted by the monster alarm and the teens quickly hurried over to the charmed map. Harry touched the map with his wand, "Cedals are attacking a house just south of Aberdeen", he announced.

"Wait a moment", Cho zoomed in on the location, "that's my Uncle's house".

"How did they find out where he lived?" Ron asked the group, "not even we knew where that was".

"I dunno but I suggest we go in suited up", Harry glanced over at the pink ranger, "don't worry, we'll help you". Cho didn't say anything in response and quickly summoned her morphers. The rangers fell into line and the red ranger called, "Mystic Squadron, Transform", in a flash of light they teleported to the scene of the attack. Hopefully they weren't too late to help the previous owner of the pink power.

When the rangers arrived they were confronted by a raging inferno coming from one of the side buildings on the estate. The main house appeared to be in one piece but it was surrounded by a number of Cedals and surprisingly, several Death Eaters. Cho placed a hand against her mouth and stared at the fire, "Is that the living area?" Hermione whispered.

Cho slowly shook her head, "No it's mostly a training area, similar to the one we have". She was to charge towards the building when Ron grabbed her hand.

"We can't just charge in", Ron began, "we don't know where your Uncle is being held".

The pink ranger roughly snatched her arm back but she begrudgingly agreed with the blue ranger. She took a calming breath and began to reach out for her uncle's presence. After a few moments she announced, "He's in the basement, the entrance is around the back".

"Good job locating his aura", Harry said to the pink ranger. Two people who shared the same power could easily locate each other by identifying a similar type of Chi in the area. Sadly it only worked over a small area, "I think we should take care of the Death Eaters first", Harry continued, "they're more likely to raise the alarm than the Cedals". He then turned back to the pink ranger, "Once they've been dealt with, you can locate your Uncle Ling", Cho nodded in appreciation.

"Leave these masked morons to me", Dean announced to the other and placed his hands across his chest.

The Death Eaters on guard duty were new recruits and not trusted members of the inner circle. They were reluctant to work with the Cedals, viewing them as filthy creatures that were beneath wizards like themselves. Suddenly the area began to get extremely foggy as thick waves of mist rolled over the garden and in their direction. The Death Eaters first thoughts were that a group of Dementors were heading in their direction. They drew their wands but they weren't experiencing any of the associated negative feelings.

There were three Death Eaters on guard duty and two of them were surprised when one of their friends fell to the ground without warning. Just as quickly the second Death Eater slumped to the ground, "Show yourself", the sole remaining Death Eater shouted, "I'm not afraid to kill".

The Death Eater turned around and came face to face with the green ranger, "Sup", Dean said and cracked the Death Eater over the head with the butt of his Star Blaster. He dispelled his mist and Ron, Harry and Hermione jumped into the gathered Cedals.

"Go find Ling", Harry called out to Cho and Dean, "we'll take care of these guys". The pink and green ranger's nodded and headed towards the rear of the property. The back door had been blasted off its hinges and lay in pieces across the kitchen floor. Cho pulled out her Star Rod and cautiously led their pair into the house.

"Look over there", Dean pointed out a blood stained patch on the floor in the adjoining room. The room itself was almost totally destroyed, like a small tornado had swept through, "Looks like your Uncle didn't go down without a fight".

Cho tightened her grip on her rod and moved quickly towards the door leading towards the basement. It was open so they moved as quietly down the stairs as possible. The basement was substantial and when they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ling and his captors were out of their line of vision. "Tell us what we want to know and the pain will end", a voice could be heard in the room.

"N-Never", Ling replied but with a quiver in his voice.

" _Crucio",_ the other voice shouted and the sounds of screaming echoed through the room. From her crouched position, Cho was visibly shaking, "tell us where to find these so called Power Rangers", the voice bellowed.

Unable to listen to her Uncle suffer any more torture, Cho ran into the room and pulled out her Star Blaster, "Cho, wait", Dean hissed but he was too late.

"You want the rangers", Cho called out and fired her blaster towards the hand of the Death Eater torturing her uncle, "you've got them". The shot hit the Death Eater on his wand hand and his wand exploded in a shower of splinters. He cried out in pain as the blast had also blown two of his fingers clean off his hand.

" _Reducto",_ two more voices called out and Cho quickly hid behind a stack of boxes. It was only now that she realised that there were a total of three Death Eaters in the room. She was led to believe that the suits offered some degree of protection against normal magic but she didn't want to test that theory.

"Come out pinkie", one of the other men called out, "otherwise the old man suffers a very painful death". Cho looked around to see if there was anything in the room that could help her and quickly noticed a pile of logs that her Uncle used on his fire. She aimed a strong gust of wind in their direction and they flew towards the Death Eaters.

The distraction was enough for her to emerge from her position and she immediately took down a Death Eater with a roundhouse kick. She turned to the Death Eater with the injured hand and rammed her knees into his face, knocking him out. She was about to turn towards the third one when she felt a something slam into her back. The pink ranger immediately collapsed to the floor, "Not so tough now, are you girly", the final Death Eater taunted, "now let's see who's hiding under that helmet".

The final Death Eater didn't get a chance to remove her helmet as he was struck from behind and fell to the ground. Cho looked up and saw Dean towered over him with a log in his hand, "Next time I say wait, you wait", he dropped the log on to the floor.

Ignoring the pain in her back, Cho unclipped her helmet and moved towards her Uncle, "Don't worry Uncle", she tried to soothe him, "we won't let anyone else hurt you".

"Thank you Cho", Ling coughed, "and thank you as well Mr Thomas", he said to the green ranger.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs grabbed their attention and Dean moved in front of Cho and Ling protectively. They all breathed a sigh of relief when the remaining rangers appeared, "Is he alright?" Ron asked as he removed his helmet.

"I've experienced worst Mr Weasley", Ling smiled weakly.

"We'll take him back to Hogwarts", Harry said, "maybe Dumbledore can persuade Madam Pomfrey to patch him up".

"Aren't we all forgetting something?" Hermione began, "how did the Death Eaters know where to find him".

"I haven't forgotten", Harry began, "but we can worry about that when Ling is safely back at Hogwarts".

"Thank you", Cho said to her fellow rangers, "for helping to save my Uncle".

"That's what friends do for each other", Dean smiled and helped the pink ranger to her feet. Despite saying they would worry about it later, the rangers couldn't help but think about Hermione's question. The only possible answers were that they either had a spy in their team or somewhere in their extended network of friends. It was something that none of them wanted to think about but they might not have a choice. With a loud pop the group teleported away back to the safety of Hogwarts.


	15. The Oncoming Storm

_Chapter 15 –The Oncoming Storm_

Hogwarts Castle was always a breath-taking sight but today it was looking especially beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was surprisingly warm for the northern end of the British Isles. The atmosphere at the school was almost celebratory. The fifth and seventh year students had finished their exams and their classes were over. For the seventh years, they were over completely. Even the years that didn't have important exams were in high spirits as there was just under a week of school left.

One person who wasn't too thrilled with life at Hogwarts was Tommy Oliver. His fellow veterans had already returned to America but the former green ranger decided to stay a few more days. Something about these powers and familiar looking zords and monsters wasn't sitting right with him.

The similarities to the old Thunder Zords was uncanny, Tommy hadn't been close enough for a detailed look but on the surface, they were perfect replicas of the second set of Mighty Morphin' zords. Something was different about them though, all the Rangers reported these new zords held a certain degree of sentience. This wasn't unusual, the same could be said for the Dino Zords of the Dino Thunder team. Perhaps the latest fleets of fighting machines held some DNA of the magical creatures they represented. Only one person knew for sure and their talk was long overdue.

Approaching the gargoyle guarding the Headmasters office, Tommy began to recite the password only to find there was no need. The stone statue slipped to one side and granted him immediate access. Riding the staircase all the way to the top, Tommy found the door slightly ajar. Stepping inside he stopped Headmaster Dumbledore leaning heavily against the stone window frame, "This conversation must be quick Mr Oliver", the old man stated without turning around, "I have another appointment in a few minutes".

Tommy found this curious, it was well after dark, "Surely no one will be visiting at this hour Headmaster", he asked. The elderly man turned around and dropped wearily into his chair. The former green ranger knew Albus Dumbledore wasn't a young man, however, he had never seen the Headmaster look so old and tired, "Are you feeling alright?" he continued, "it looks like you haven't slept in days?"

"When you reach my age, you will not feel like sleeping", the Headmaster replied cryptically, "you never know how long you have left". Professor Dumbledore pointed towards the vacant chair and offered Tommy a silver bowl, "Lemon drop?"

Tommy slipped into the chair and politely declined the offer, "I've been meaning to talk to you for a while Headmaster", he began, "the zords your Rangers use, they look identical to the ones my old team used".

"Curious", Dumbledore replied, "before I became a teacher at Hogwarts I travelled the world extensively. One individual I met was a being known only as Zordon".

"Zordon of Eltar?" Tommy asked, "he was my old mentor, the original creator of the Power Rangers".

The Headmaster softly chuckled, "Perhaps, although from the history lesson given by Miss Granger, your team might not have been the original Rangers". Tommy couldn't deny that, the legend of the Samurai Rangers of Ancient Japan had become common Ranger knowledge since the modern version of the team came on the scene. "Zordon was very curious about wizards and our form of magic", Dumbledore continued, "we spent many hours discussing magical theory, perhaps he used some of them as inspiration".

It was a plausible theory Tommy thought, maybe not a totally satisfying one, "Inspiration and plagiarism are different thing Professor", he stated, "if I were you, I'd be asking for royalties from all the toy versions sold around the world".

Professor Dumbledore chuckled softly once again, "That is the only explanation I can think of", he began, "I'm afraid Zordon would be the best person to ask".

Tommy froze, the Headmaster didn't know about the wise sage's fact, "That isn't possible", he said gravely, "Zordon died over twenty years ago". This information seemed to suck the sparkle from Dumbledore's eyes, "He gave his life for the Greater Good and I fear whatever information he knew died with him".

The room was silent for several seconds as Dumbledore allowed this information to sink in, "Truly this news is unexpected", he finally replied, "I apologise that I will not be able to give you much more than an educated guess to your question", he added, diverting the conversation away from Zordon's death.

"From what your students have told me, your guesses are usually right", Tommy replied.

A small spark of life flashed back across Dumbledore's face, "Magic is fundamentally the same, whether it's wizarding magic, Chi magic or other worldly magic". Tommy nodded slowly, vaguely understanding Dumbledore so far, "The enemy you face at the time was called Lord Edd, correct me if I'm wrong".

Hearing the mispronunciation of his former enemy's name forced a smile to Tommy's face, "It was Zedd actually", he corrected the Headmaster, "a tyrannical overlord from several galaxies away".

"But a strong magical user, correct?" Tommy reluctantly admitted that Lord Zedd was well versed in magic, "perhaps he tapped into some latent Chi magic accidentally during the creation of his monsters. They might have born the likeness of the Gormal Generals but without their Chi power".

Tommy leaned back in his chair and thought about this. He wasn't an expert in magical theory, however, Dumbledore's theory certainly made sense. The wizarding world was descended from the original Chi users and power like that didn't just disappear. Magical users might keep themselves hidden but magic must seep into the muggle world at the same time. The only person who might know was the Sorceress Udonna, maybe a visit to Briarwood would help answer his questions, "Is there anyone else who could help with your problem?" Dumbledore broke the silent, "someone who knew Zordon and maybe as old as he?"

Thinking about Briarwood suddenly made Tommy freeze, "There is someone", he began, "but I really don't want to talk to her".

"Old girlfriend", Dumbledore added with a twinkle in his eye.

Tommy nearly gagged at that thought, "Good God no", he choked out, "let's just say we have a lot of negative history". Regaining his composure, Tommy offered a suggestion, "Maybe the Rangers could find out for themselves", he suggested, "a little trip to America over the summer wouldn't do any harm. There's plenty of former Rangers who could put them up for a few weeks".

Before Dumbledore could reply there was a knock on the door and Professor Snape let himself in, "I didn't realise you had company", the dark haired man said coldly.

"Mr Oliver was just leaving", Dumbledore replied, "we can pick up our discussion another time". Recognising a dismissal when he heard on, Tommy got up and left the room, avoiding the icy glare from the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.

Choosing to ignore Headmaster Dumbledore's offer of further discussion, Tommy reached for his old wrist mounted communicator. Fortunately he discovered they were resistance to magical interference, possibly some foresight in their original design, "Jason it's Tommy here, could you contact Nick Russell for me. I think the rookies need to pay Briarwood a visit".

In another part of the school, Harry was walking towards the Headmaster's Office after the day's training session. It had been a rather tense affair, Cho was still annoyed with her uncle for disappearing from the hospital wing without telling anyone. Hermione and Dean were still trying to figure out how information had leaked out about Ling's relationship to the rangers.

There had been a small argument when Harry suggested Draco Malfoy could be involved in some way. Apart from Ginny, no one else was convinced that the blonde haired Slytherin was a Death Eater. Ling had left the school fairly quickly and gone into hiding for his own safety. Harry trusted everyone in the Rangers inner circle implicitly and was confident the leak couldn't have come from them. Their Chi powers instantly boosted their Occulmancy shields so that link was out. Dumbledore had trained Ginny separately due to her lack of Chi Power. That only left Tommy and Harry didn't want to suspect him. Even though he was a former Power Ranger, as a muggle he naturally didn't have strong mental shields. Maybe he inadvertently gave some information away.

Harry approached the Gargoyle and it moved aside without the need to give the password. The red ranger climbed the stairs and the door opened by itself. Inside the Headmaster's Office were Dumbledore and Professor Snape. The greasy haired teacher gave Harry a sharp look and sneer, "That will be all Severus", Dumbledore said with a smooth voice. Snape gave Harry one last look before breezing past him and down the stairs.

"You wanted to see me Sir", Harry asked.

"Indeed Harry", Dumbledore slowly stood up from his chair, "I have discovered the location of another of Voldemort's Horcruxes", he looked at the red ranger, "I believe you wanted to accompany me".

Harry was stunned into silence for a moment before stammering, "Y-Yes Sir, thank you".

"I'll warn you know Harry that you must do exactly as I say", Dumbledore began, "even with your new powers this mission will be extremely dangerous".

"Do you believe that Voldemort used some of his new power to guard the Horcrux", Harry asked.

Dumbledore shook his head, "I do not believe so and that's why I'm not asking any of the other rangers to come with us". Dumbledore gave Harry a small smile, "Never the less, I do believe that we should take the appropriate defence measures. Please bring your Invisibility Cloak and be prepared to fight at a moment's notice".

Harry nodded slowly, "Sir as I'm here there's something I want to talk to you about".

Dumbledore sighed and moved towards his chair, "I sense this is a conversation I need to be sitting down for".

"How did Voldemort find out about Ling's connection to us?" Harry began, "we've thought about this for a while but can't see when any obvious information leak happened".

The Headmaster placed his fingers together and was silence for a few moments, "I do not believe this is something to be alarmed about".

"Forgive me for saying", Harry felt his temper rising, "but that sounds like a load of bull".

Dumbledore smiled and ignored the off the cuff comment, "It's fairly common knowledge that Ling Zhou held tremendous control over the wind element and has been for years. When a ranger shows up with similar powers, it wouldn't take someone of Voldemort's intelligence long to put two and two together".

Harry sighed, "But what about the mirror Hermione found, surely that was planted by someone".

"None of us know what powers Voldemort has now", Dumbledore replied, "just like we do not know the limits of your Chi Powers. For all we know Voldemort could've used his powers to teleport that mirror into the school".

"Even through the wards around Hogwarts?" Harry questioned the Headmaster.

"Possibly", Dumbledore sighed, "unfortunately I do not have all the answers". He looked at the clock, "Now we leave in an hour, I suggest that you get yourself prepared". Harry recognised a dismissal when he heard one but that didn't stop him shaking his head at the Headmaster. He reluctantly turned around and walked out of Dumbledore's office.

Once the red ranger had left Dumbledore grasped his discoloured hand, grinding his teeth to blunt the worst of the pain. Once the initial wave had worn off, he looked over at his familiar on a nearby perch, "I know what I'm doing Fawkes", Dumbledore sighed, "and I've been prepared for this moment for several years".

Fawkes looked at his master questioningly before letting out a sad trill. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and opened a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a picture of a blonde haired girl who was no older than sixteen, "I'm on my way Ariana, I hope you remember me", he sighed. There was silence in the room before he looked over at Fawkes again, "Am I a good man Fawkes?" The phoenix didn't reply, instead it flew over to Dumbledore's desk and landed in front of the Headmaster. Dumbledore stroked his familiar with his good hand, his final adventure in the realm of the living was about to begin.


	16. Evil Will Rise

_Chapter 16 – Evil Will Rise_

After leaving the Headmaster's Office, Harry assembled his team in the training room and explained the situation. He deliberately left out information about Horcruxes, remembering the promise he made to the Headmaster. The remaining rangers plus Tommy and Ginny listened intently to Harry as he continued to talk. The tension in the room grew tense the longer the red ranger spoke, especially when he became evasive about what he and Dumbledore would be searching for, "Don't you trust us Potter?" Cho asked.

"It's not that", he replied, "but I promised Dumbledore not to say anything. This could be important to bring down Voldemort once and for all".

"Yeah and so are we", Dean snorted.

"Look if Harry can't talk about it, that should be good enough for us", Ron added.

"It's not that easy for us", the green ranger indicated to Cho and himself, "you're used to this sneaking around and saving the day but it's all new to us".

Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose, "Guys this isn't getting us anywhere", he began, "clearly Harry didn't bring us all together to tell us about his field trip so shall we let him finish".

Harry smiled appreciatively at the former ranger, "I think our spy is going to take this opportunity to strike".

Hermione frowned in the red ranger's direction, "What makes you say that?"

"I dunno", Harry sighed, "the school year's nearly over so they won't have too many more opportunities. Plus with me away from the school, the team will be one person short".

Ron nodded, "So what's the plan?"

"Well that's going to be your job Ron", Harry clasped his best friend on the shoulder. "I need someone to lead the team whilst I'm away and I can't think of anyone better". There was a pause as the two friends looked at each other. Eventually Ron stood up a little straighter and gave Harry a firm nod, "Thanks mate", he looked at his watch, "I've got to go, stay safe everyone". With those final words Harry grabbed a bag off the floor and exited the room.

"Alright Mr Fearless Leader, what are your orders?" Ginny asked.

"Firstly less sarcasm from you", Ron directed towards his younger sister, "next we need to work out where the Death Eaters and Cedals would most likely come from".

"Main entrance seems the most likely", Dean began, "it's got a direct route from Hogsmeade".

"Yeah but it's too obvious", Ron put his hands behind his head and began to pace, "I'm not ruling it out but I don't think they would come that way first".

"The wards around the castle extend high into the air", Cho added, "so I think we can rule out an attack from the air".

"The Room of Requirement", Ginny blurted out, "that's where Draco Malfoy has been spending all his time during this year".

"Not this again Gin", Ron sighed.

"Here me out Ronniekins", she spat out, much to the annoyance of her brother, "I'll bet you all the money in our vault that he's heading up there now". She pulled out the Marauders Map and sure enough Draco has reached the seventh floor, "See", she added smugly.

"That doesn't prove anything", Cho stated.

"I'm right about this", Ginny said firmly, "Harry's right about this", she looked towards her older brother, "trust us", she implored.

Ron thought about it for a few moments, "Alright but I think we'll be unwise put all our eggs in that basket". He paused for a moment, "Tommy keep an eye on the entrance hall, take Cho with you as she's our strongest Chi user". The pink ranger nodded in confirmation, "The rest of us will keep an eye on the Room of Requirement".

"What about me?" Ginny asked. Ron was about to say something but the teen stopped, "Don't tell me it's too dangerous and to stay out the way".

The blue ranger sighed, "Fine, get in contact with the Order. I don't care who, Dad, Bill, Remus, Tonks, anyone. We're probably going to need reinforcements if an attack is coming". Ginny smiled in appreciation at Ron, "Myself, Hermione and Dean will suit up just in case", he turned to the pink ranger, "Cho only morph if necessary, we don't want to blow our cover". With everyone given their assignments, they quickly moved out.

"That was very well handled", Hermione said to Ron during their journey to the seventh floor, causing Ron to blush.

"If you two are going to spend the entire time flirting then I want to be reassigned", Dean joked, much to the embarrassment of the pair.

The rest of the journey was completed in silence until they reached the Room of Requirement, "Alright the coast looks clear", Ron looked around and checked the map once again. Malfoy still hadn't reappeared on the map, "Ok let's do this", the trio called on their morphers, "Mystic Squadron, Transform", Ron called and in a flash they morphed into their suits.

"Do you believe that Death Eaters will actually come through here?" Hermione asked Ron.

"I'm not sure", the blue ranger began, "but Harry's rarely wrong about this kind of stuff".

"Well actually", Hermione started to say but she was interrupted by the doors to the Room of Requirement crashing open. The ranger's heads snapped in that direction but almost instantly their vision was obscured by a thick dark cloud.

"The hell is this", Dean exclaimed.

"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder", Ron replied, "my brother's sell it in their shop". The visors on their helmets protected their eyes but they still didn't allow them to see anything. They could hear the sound of hurried footsteps and someone definitely bumped into Dean but they were powerless to stop them, "What I wouldn't give for Cho's powers right about now", the blue ranger grumbled.

"Let me see if I can catch up to them", Hermione stated. She vaguely remembered where she was in the corridor and hopefully she would set off in the right direction. Tapping into her enhanced speed, she sped down the corridor until she was clear of the powder's affects. She could see a large group of Cedals descending the stairs along with several cloaked figures. The bright blonde hair of Draco Malfoy stood out, along with the wild black hair of Bellatrix Lestrange. She quickly pulled out her Star Blaster and aimed it down the stairs, "Hey stop right there", she called out.

Malfoy's eyes widened when he caught sight of the yellow ranger and pushed his way towards the front. Bellatrix just laughed in her typical manic fashion but to Hermione's surprise she unleashed a couple of dark coloured energy bolts from the palms of her hands. The yellow ranger had to slow down the blasts to avoid them, just getting her head out of the way in time. They impacted with the stone wall behind her but instead of exploding, they started eating away at the stone, "Bloody hell", she whispered.

"Yellow", she heard Ron's voice call out, "what happened?"

"Draco let in a bunch of Death Eaters, one of them was his favourite Aunt", the yellow ranger pointed at the wall, "she did that".

"Holy shit", Dean whistled, "I've never seen a spell like that".

"I don't think it was", Hermione began, "I think Voldemort's given her a Chi upgrade". The others let that sink for a moment, "We need to downstairs, they're heading straight for the Entrance Hall". Ron and Dean nodded in agreement and set off down the staircase.

In the Entrance Hall Tommy and Cho were struggling to hold off the Cedals that were pouring into the school. They briefly noticed a few of the Death Eaters heading for the Astronomy Tower but they were too busy with the grunts to do anything about it. Tommy dodged a punch from a Cedal and countered by kicking it in the legs, causing the creature to crash head first into the floor. He was quickly set upon by another pair of monster but he soon dispatched them with a split leg kick, "Man it feels good to do this again", he smiled, twisting the arm off a Cedal in the process.

Tommy moved towards the main door and quickly slammed it into the heads of several approaching Cedal, "Sorry we're closed", he cried. The door burst back open and he was pushed towards the wall by a pair of footsoldiers. Using his momentum, he ran at the wall and jumped onto it. He bounced off the wall and kicked the two approaching creatures in the head. Watching several other creatures close on him menacingly, Tommy grinned and held out his hands. In a flash of green and white energy, his old Dragon Dagger and Saba appeared in his hands, "Time for round two", she added, twirling the blades threateningly.

Cho groaned as one of the Cedals succeeded in throwing her into the door that separated the Great Hall from the Entrance Hall. A loose piece of wooden fell down and struck her on the head, drawing some blood, "Bloody things", she hissed and grabbed her head. From her prone position, she spun her legs and knocked the Cedal to the ground. Grabbing the piece of wood, she smashed it over the head.

"What I wouldn't give for my staff right about now", she sighed before landing a roundhouse kick on another Cedal. Suddenly she spied a sword that had fallen from one of the suits of armour, "I suppose that'll do", she smiled. She performed a hands free flip and vaulted over a Cedal, landing gracefully on the floor. The pink ranger grasped the sword and sliced through the legs of the nearest Cedals and they collapsed to the floor with a sickening thud.

The number of Cedals were beginning to thin but a few more Death Eaters had snuck in during the Chaos. One of them snuck up on Cho but the pink ranger was alert to the danger. She spun around and pointed her sword towards the masked man, "Do it", he growled. Cho hesitated for a moment but that was all it needed for the Death Eater to disarm her. "Fighting like a filthy muggle, look at you girl, you haven't even got your wand out".

"You'll be surprised what damage I can do without one", she replied defiantly.

"Not for much longer you won't", the tip of his wand shone a sickly green colour but before he could speak the curse, his arms snapped to his side and he fell to the ground.

With the Death Eater out the way, Cho could see that her saviours were Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, "I guess Ginny told you what's happening?" Cho asked.

"She said that Death Eaters were about to attack", Neville began, "but she didn't explain how she knew about the attack".

"The Phoenix spirit shines brightly in you", Luna blurted out in her typically airy fashion.

Before Cho could offer any further explanation, she heard an anguished cry from outside, "That sounded like Ginny", she said and ran towards the door, "Come on Tommy", she grabbed the former ranger, "duty calls".

Outside there was a number of Death Eaters duelling with members of this mysterious Order that Harry mentioned earlier. She could see the Weasley Twins along with someone she assumed was their Dad. She could also see the former Professor Lupin in the distance but she was more concerned about an injured looking Ginny on the ground in front of them, "Ginny, what happened?" Cho asked.

"Greyback's attacking Bill", the younger teen cried, "I tried to stop him but he shook me off". Tommy didn't need to hear anymore and charged towards danger with his two blades, "Tommy wait, Greyback's a werewolf".

Tommy didn't hear Ginny though as he charged across the grass. He could see a large man with wild hair mauling someone he assumed was Ginny's oldest brother. When he was almost on top of the man he called out, "Hey". Greyback's head snapped around and Tommy was disgusted by the sight of blood around his mouth and on his hands. He swung Saba in an upward motion with such force that the weapon flew out his hand. The pure light energy of the weapon sliced straight across the chest of Greyback and he howled in pain Tommy silenced him by smashing his knee into Greyback's face, rendering him unconscious.

"Bill", he heard a male voice call out, Tommy looked up into the face of a man with thinning red hair, "please not Bill".

Tommy checked for a pulse and was relieved to see that Bill still had one, "He's still alive", Tommy said to the man, "he needs medical attention".

"Thank you", Arthur Weasley said, "whoever you are", he added.

Suddenly their attention was drawn to a loud noise from the Astronomy Tower and in the distance they were sure that something fell out of the window. Moments later there was a loud explosion that removed a large chunk of the roof. Bricks and tiles plummeted to the ground, leaving small craters in the earth. They could see the familiar sight of spell fire before the Dark Mark appeared high in the air.

The Death Eaters stopped and cried out in joy before heading as quickly as they could for the exits. Some of the Order members gave chase but they were too late. The Death Eaters reached the gate and apparated away. "Ginny", one of the twins said, "what happened here?"

By not Ginny had retrieved Saba from the grass, she lowered the blade at the sight of the twins, "I'm not really sure", she began, "Harry left with Dumbledore and he warned that there could be a Death Eater attack but we didn't expect anything on this scale".

"Everyone you'd better come and see this", Remus Lupin called out from the base of the Astronomy Tower. Everyone who could move made their way to the former professor's position. In a crumpled heap at the base of the tower lay the body of one of the most powerful wizards who had ever lived. Everyone bowed their head in mourning as Albus Dumbledore was dead. The Death Eaters had achieved their mission.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	17. Fall of the King

_Chapter 17 – Fall of the King_

Harry and Professor Dumbledore arrived back in the village of Hogsmeade with a loud crack. Dumbledore stumbled on landing and Harry grasped the old wizards arm to prevent him from falling over. The Headmaster cried in pain when the young wizard took hold of his injured arm, "I'm alight Harry", he tried to soothe the concerns of his student.

The red ranger wasn't convinced, the Headmaster had just ingested a mysterious potion that caused him to hallucinate. He kept muttering the name Ariana, not that Harry knew who that was. The Horcrux was located in a cave by the sea. Fortunately Voldemort hadn't added any nasty Chi related surprises to the cave. The defences were still strong and the pair had nearly fallen foul of the hidden Inferni. A combination of Harry's fire power and an alarming strong spell from Dumbledore had disposed of them but the Headmaster was still feeling the after effects of the potion. He had managed to apparate them away but at a great cost to himself.

"Please Harry, lead me over there", Dumbledore pointed to the Hog's Head. Harry wrapped the Headmaster's arm around his neck and they stumbled through the door.

Inside the pub, the barman looked up from the bar, "Albus", he grunted, "to what do I owe the pleasure".

"Good evening Abe", the Headmaster wheezed, "just out for an evening stroll".

"With Potter?" the man identified as Abe replied, "is this another one of the Great Albus Dumbledore's secrets", he added sarcastically. He grabbed a glass and began to wipe it with a cloth, "Perhaps you should be more concerned about what's happening at that school of yours".

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

The barman stood up a little straighter, "Saw a number of Death Eaters in the area earlier this evening. Just a few moments ago I noticed some of your _friends_ heading towards the school", he went back to idly cleaning his glass.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, "Looks like your suspicions were correct Harry". He turned towards the barman, "Do you have any transportation we can borrow Abe?"

Abe slammed the glass down on the bar in annoyance, "There's a couple of old brooms behind the bar", he paused momentarily, "some of the charms are wearing out so be careful that you don't fall". Harry frowned, the barman sounds a little too gleeful about the thought of Dumbledore falling off a broom.

The Headmaster though chose to ignore the comment, "Thank you Abe", he reached over the bar and clasped the man on the shoulder, "look after yourself", he added. The barman nodded before subtlety shaking off Dumbledore's grasp.

"Sir did you know him?" Harry asked as the pair headed into the back room.

"My brother", Dumbledore sighed, "we're not as close as we used to be but that's a story for another time". The pair grabbed the brooms and took off into the dark night sky. The ground underneath was completely featureless until they approached the grounds of the castle. Harry looked down and he could see two groups exchanging spell fire along with several Cedals running amok. Harry desperately wanted to fly down and help but a firm warning from the Headmaster told him to keep flying on their current trajectory.

Harry did as he was instructed and the pair soon flew through the window of the Astronomy Tower. Dumbledore took Harry's broom and placed in behind a drape, "Harry remember my instructions from earlier tonight", the red ranger nodded, "they still apply so I want you to stay out of sight".

"But Sir I need to help the others", Harry pleaded.

The Headmaster was about to respond but the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs echoed throughout the tower. "I fear that time is against us", Dumbledore replied, "now Harry", he added as the footsteps became louder. Reluctantly Harry hid behind the drapes just as three figures burst into the room. He immediately recognised Draco Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov, the latter pair had disposed of their usual Death Eater robes and had replaced them with long leather cloaks reminiscent of trench coats.

Draco had his wand pointed directly had the Headmaster and immediately disarmed him the instant the old man pulled out his wand. Harry began to feel his anger rising and not even the confirmation of his suspicions about Draco could soothe his growing temper. He used some of his calming techniques and it was then he noticed something unusual about the trio, he could sense dark Chi rolling off them.

Harry was so focused on this revelation that he was tuning out the conversation between Dumbledore and Draco. His long time antagonist seemed to be wavering about finishing off the Headmaster. Despite vocal encouragement from his Aunt, Draco didn't have the stomach to kill the old man, "You're weak Draco", Bellatrix growled, "just like your father".

"Don't talk about my father", Draco spat.

"Ooh I see little Draky has finally found his balls", Bellatrix taunted, "maybe these extra gifts our Master gave you have finally made a man out of you".

"So short-sighted as usual Bellatrix", Dumbledore sighed, "don't you know what you had to give up in order to gain those powers".

Bellatrix snarled in the direction of the old Headmaster as energy crackled between her fingertips, "You don't understand the power that we now possess".

Dumbledore shook his head, "I see that I truly failed to educate the previous generation correctly", he then looked towards Draco, "I hope that I had more success with the current generation". Draco's arm shook and the look of panic began to spread over his face.

"Unless your plan involves waiting for the old man to die of old age I suggest you get on with it Malfoy", Dolohov grumbled, "before the rangers get here", Bellatrix snorted at the mention of the rangers.

"Draco we both know that you're not going to do this", Dumbledore began with a soothing voice, "why don't you lower your wand?"

Seeing that Draco wasn't able to fire off the killing curse, Harry was about to come to the Headmaster aid but he wasn't able to react in time. Moments later Professor Snape burst into the room and surveyed the scene. He looked directly at the Headmaster and gave him a firm look, "Severus, please", Dumbledore pleaded. Snape took a deep breath before raising his hand and fired off a black ball of energy. It struck the Headmaster in the chest and he was propelled out the window, plummeting to the ground below.

Harry couldn't believe it, the one person who Dumbledore trusted more than anyone had just sent him tumbling to his death. Not only that he had willingly accepted Voldemort Dark Chi powers and used them to kill the Headmaster. Suddenly Harry had a thought, Dumbledore probably shared some of the secrets of the rangers with Snape. It was probably that snuck in the mirror that cursed Hermione and who told the Death Eaters about Cho's uncle.

The revelations were too much for Harry and he broke free of the bonds that had been placed on him. Four pairs of eyes snapped in his direction, "Potter", Snape sneered, "I knew that you'd be in the area".

"How could you?" Harry could feel his Chi Power growing inside him, "Dumbledore trusted you".

"A simple mind like yours wouldn't understand my motives", Snape replied. Bellatrix cackled with laughter and unleashed a barrage of energy shots from her hands in the direction of the red ranger. Harry ducked underneath the blasts and rolled to his right side, "Bella stop, remember the Master's orders".

"He's just one little boy", Bellatrix cackled, "he's no match for us".

Harry frowned, "I'll show you", he bellowed and threw a fireball in the direction of the quartet. Snape quickly threw a strong shield up between the two sides and deflected the attack towards the roof. A powerful blast tore through the stone and sent debris raining down on the ground below. Harry was thrown against wall and heard a crack from his shoulder. The Death Eaters hit the opposite wall, Draco and Dolohov were knocked out instantly and Bellatrix looked close to unconsciousness. Snape glared towards Harry but no further words were said. The Defence teacher shook Bellatrix enough to stir her back into consciousness. The pair grabbed hold of one of their fallen comrades and disappeared in a burst of black smoke.

The red ranger shook some of the cobwebs from his head and slowly got to his feet. Somehow Snape had bypassed the apparation wards and evaded his grasp. He would have to worry about that another day as there were more pressing matters. Harry slowly approached the window ledge but he didn't want to look out the window because he knew what he would see. Harry wasn't prepared to see Professor Dumbledore lying dead at the foot of the Astronomy Tower.

He began to walk down the stairs of the tower in a zombie like state, still not quite believing what had transpired in the last few minutes. He had a feeling that Voldemort would find a way to share some his Chi power with his closest allies. The red ranger had been suspicious of Draco all year and Snape was never his favourite person but to betray Dumbledore and murder him, Harry didn't see that coming.

He walked through the entrance hall and could see the familiar signs of a battle. Bodies of defeated Cedals littered the floor and he could see several students stepping over them and walking out to the courtyard. They were gathering around the base of the tower, completely in shock at the death of the legendary Headmaster.

"Hey", Harry felt Ron place an arm on his shoulder. He glanced around and saw Hermione and Dean behind him, they had powered down since their encounter with the Death Eaters in the castle, "we saw his body fall".

Harry looked to the ground and looked up again, just in time for Cho to arrive, "He's dead", she said simply, "Harry, what happened?"

"Snape", he replied, "Draco let some Death Eaters in and they cornered us at the top of the tower. Snape arrived and blasted him out the window with some Dark Chi powers".

"Snape has Chi too?" Dean asked.

"So does Bellatrix and Draco", Harry sighed, "Voldemort clearly believes in sharing".

"Ron", Cho said towards the blue ranger, "your brother was hurt during the battle, the oldest one I think".

"Bill?" Ron began, "is he alright?"

"We think so", the pink ranger continued, "he was attacked by Greyback, he's been injured around the face and chest", she paused for a moment, "I'm sorry".

The blue ranger bit his tongue as he fought back a few tears, "There wasn't a full moon tonight", Hermione placed an arm around his shoulder, "we'll check in with Madame Pomfrey and see if he's alright", Ron nodded slowly and the group slowly made their way towards the infirmary.

"So what are we going to do now?" Dean said to the group.

"I know what I'd like to do", Ron growled.

"They'll be plenty of time for revenge Ron", Harry replied, "what's important right now...", his voice trailed off as the group felt their morphers heat up, "you've got to be kidding me".

"Seems like Voldemort is in a celebratory mood", Hermione sighed, "don't worry Ron, we'll get back and check on Bill as soon as we can".

"I could do with working out some frustrations on some faceless footsoldiers", Dean cracked his knuckles.

"Just remember to stay focused", Harry said to his team, "we've had too many casualties today already", the other rangers nodded in silent and solemn agreed and teleported away to the latest attack. They would have to find time to mourn the passing of Albus Dumbledore later, unfortunately the forces of evil didn't feel like granting them a break any time soon.


	18. The Aftermath

_Chapter 18 – The Aftermath_

It didn't seem right that the sun had shone today but even wizards had no real control over the weather. The funeral of Albus Dumbledore had finished and the body of the former Headmaster had been sealed away in a marble tomb on the school grounds. The last few days had been tough on everyone but the rangers were feeling the effects worse than anyone. All of them had spent several days asking a lot of 'what if' questions. Maybe if they had investigated Malfoy and Snape with greater scrutiny, perhaps if they had been a little quicker stopping the Death Eaters from escaping the Room of Requirement or chosen to follow them to the Astronomy Tower, maybe none of this would've happen. Harry felt the worst of all, he had been there at the time and had been able to do little to prevent Dumbledore's death.

The Daily Prophet was having a field day with the story, spinning a wild tale about how the rangers had failed the students. There had even been wild accusation that the ranger's powers were born out of dark magic. Fortunately Voldemort's decision to unleash a monster at the same time had backfired. The public came to the conclusion that the rangers had been busy dealing with the attack. No one suspected that they were there at the time, except possibly two people. Neville and Luna and been acting strangely around the group as they had been on the scene during the attack and had seen some of them fighting off the Cedals.

The team would have to talk about whether to let them in on their secret another time though. Shortly after the funeral Harry had called a meeting in the training room and he had much to discuss. Soon after Dumbledore's death he realised the locket from the cave was a fake. It was then that he chose to include all of the team in the secret of the Horcruxes. They weren't too surprised to learn that Voldemort had gone to these lengths to secure immortality, after all he had awoken the spirits of a long dead tribe and was attacking the country with monsters.

"So you think that Voldemort made seven of these things", Tommy asked.

"It seems the most likely number", Harry replied, "I've already destroyed one", he looked directly at Ginny, "the diary".

"Tom Riddle's diary was a Horcrux", the red head shuddered, "now I feel really ill".

"You're not the only one", Harry placed an arm around his girlfriend, "Dumbledore took care of another during the summer so there's five more out there somewhere".

"Yeah that's the part I don't like", Dean began, "we're looking for something that could be anything and it's somewhere in the world. That's not a needle in a haystack, we're talking about trying to find a specific needle hidden in a pile of needles".

"From what Harry said, Dumbledore thinks that he might've used items relating to the founders of Hogwarts", Hermione stated, "and hid them in areas Voldemort considers important".

"That narrows it down", Cho added and everyone looked at her, "I wasn't being sarcastic, there aren't too many artefacts relating to the founders left in the world. I think Binns mentioned something about them in one of his final lessons".

"You stayed awake?" Ron snorted.

"I'm not a Ravenclaw for nothing", she smiled, "I'll find my notes and share them with everyone later".

"That's great Cho", Harry replied, "at least we're making some progress". He reached into his pocket and pulled out the fake locket, "I wonder who R.A.B. is?"

"It would be much easier if you wizards had access to the internet", Tommy stated and immediately held up his hands, "it's a muggle thing. Given the wording in the note I would suspect that it was written by a strong opponent of Voldemort or possibly a disgruntled servant".

"Not a short list that mate", Dean smiled, "but it's a starting point". The group fell into silence for a moment before Dean continued, "What are we going to about the team?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well after tomorrow we're going to be back home for the summer", the green ranger replied, "that's not too useful in the case of an attack".

"I'm not sure", Harry began, "my initial plan was to ask Dumbledore to continue to use the castle during the summer", he sighed, "but I guess that's out".

"I still haven't heard from my Uncle", Cho added, "he's not responded to any of my owls. We could've asked him for help but that's out too".

The rangers paused in thought for a few moments, there were very few options available to them. Hermione and Dean both lived with their families in muggle neighbourhoods so they couldn't meet there. Harry wouldn't dream of asking his Aunt and Uncle for help and Cho had already eliminated herself. That just left The Burrow as an option but both Ron and Ginny was hesitant to involve their family any more than they already were. Bill had largely recovered from his injuries but he would be scarred for life. Ron, Ginny and Mr Weasley had all been injured during the last six years as well. Asking the other Weasley's to host the rangers might be one step too far.

"Perhaps I can offer a suggestion", Tommy began, "just before the Death Eater attack I spoke with Dumbledore and talked about the origins of your powers. That conversation gave me an idea, how would you like to visit Briarwood and visit the Mystic Force Rangers?"

"Wow we would be honoured", Hermione gushed, "but that would mean going to California".

"Yeah that's not really local", Ron added.

"The teams mentor, Udonna, could hold some useful information about Chi. If not, then she has access to someone who would know something", Tommy continued.

Harry thought about this for a few moments, it wasn't the worst idea they had. From what Hermione told him, the Mystic Force Rangers were the only other team known to use magic. Even if Udonna didn't have anything useful, he was always willing to take as many pointers as possible from the previous Ranger teams. The Horcruxes came into his thoughts too, it was a long shot but maybe Udonna could help with them too. "There's just one small problem with this plan", Harry said, "how are you going to persuade our parents and guardians to let us travel to America?"

"I didn't say that I had thought about every aspect of this plan", Tommy answered, "maybe make up some sort of contest victory".

"Thought long and hard about this haven't you?" Dean snorted, "I think my Mum would let me go, she isn't too keen on getting involved in this war. If I say I'm heading out the country for a bit, she'll be pleased".

"My parents feel the same", Cho added, "I could say that I'm going travelling now I've finished school. They'll be attending several conferences all across Europe over the summer anyway".

"I think I could persuade Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon to let me out for a couple of weeks", Harry said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"I think I could sort something out", Hermione bit her lip as she spoke. Her best friends could tell that something about that statement bothered her but they didn't really have time to talk about it.

"So I guess that just leaves our parents", Ginny sighed.

"What makes you think you're invited?" Ron stated.

She was about to snap back but Tommy cut in front of Ginny, "She's invited", he tapped his chin, "your parents seemed to appreciate that I saved your brother's life, perhaps I could use that to my advantage. They already know I'm visiting from America so inviting you to my country for an all expenses paid holiday wouldn't be too unbelievable".

"What about our monster alert, will it still work in the States?" Hermione asked.

"Not sure, that's something I'll have to look into", Tommy replied, "I know several people who could help, one of them created the powers for the Dino Charge team, the last known active Ranger team" the rangers nodded as they remembered Tommy telling them about the original blue ranger. "Talking of this individual, she's made you all presents", he leaned behind the bench and pulled out a wooden box. Tommy opened it and inside were six silver watches, "She followed her father's old design and worked on a more subtle communicator and these are the prototypes".

"Do these work like yours", Hermione asked as he pulled out the watch with yellow highlights.

"Better, these ones actually tell the time as well", Tommy laughed, "we're all a little envious".

"Will we get to go to Angel Grove as well?" Ron clipped his communicator to his wrist, it sat a little uncomfortably below his morpher, "I wouldn't mind visiting the place where the Power Rangers originally came from".

Ginny grabbed the final communicator, unlike the others it didn't have a colour designation, "Since when have you been a fan of history Ron?" she asked, "Don't tell me you actually found something useful from Binn's lessons".

Ignoring the siblings, Tommy continued, "If you're on your best behaviour". He looked at the new communicators, "I think we'll have to look at the design again", he added after seeing how awkwardly the communicators sat on the team's wrists.

"Yeah they kinda clash with our morphers", Dean said.

"I'm sure she'll come up with something", Tommy shrugged, "I'll ask the Mystic Rangers to come and collect you, it'll save you all the cost of an air fare".

"Well that's something to look forward to at least", Harry sighed, "I'm not looking forward to returning next year".

"Then don't" Cho shrugged.

"Cho you can't be suggesting that Harry drops out", Hermione exclaimed.

"Actually I was suggesting that you all drop out", the pink ranger continued. Before Hermione could blow her top again she continued, "Some things are more important that school. Finding these Horcruxes and stopping Voldemort's monsters are much more important than any Charms or Potions lesson".

"She's right", Harry began, "especially if Voldemort has found a way to give Chi Powers to his Death Eaters, if he can do that then who knows what he's capable of".

"Plus with Dumbledore gone, I don't think it'll be long before he declares total war", Ron added.

Hermione paused for a moment, "Alright fine but I'm not happy about this".

"Didn't think you would be", Harry smiled and looked out the window on to the grounds of Hogwarts, "I guess this'll be one of the last times I get to see this view".

"I'm sure we'll be back", Ron stated, "something tells me that Hogwarts will play an important part in this war".

"I'm sure you're right mate", Harry replied, "now I reckon we should pack everything away from this room if we're not coming back". The others groaned but reluctantly agreed with Harry and slowly began to disassemble the training equipment.

It felt like the end of an era for the rangers now that all of them had decided not to come back to school in September. Hopefully the trip to America would help them in their quest to stop Voldemort, the Gormal and his Death Eaters permanently. They didn't want to admit it but the forces of evil had the upper hand at the moment. The rangers needed to strike back before it was too late.

 _ **A/N -** This story is set in the same universe as my Dino Charge story "Heroes of Their Time". Not essential to read that but if you're at a loose end.._


	19. Leaving Home

_Chapter 19 – Leaving Home_

The students of Hogwarts had been home for five days and were beginning to settle into their summer routine. The death of Albus Dumbledore had cast a shadow over everyone and it felt like an oppressive cloud had fallen over the wizarding world. Britain felt like a powder keg that was waiting for an ignition spark. Everyone believed that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort and the Death Eaters launched a major assault.

For the Mystic Squadron things were a little different. They had accepted Tommy offer to visit the States for a few weeks after assurances that he could find a way to monitor their home country for Gormal activity.

In the East End of London, Dean sat nervously on his sofa with a holdall beside him. His home was small and sat in amongst a densely populated area filled with terraced houses. The front room was filled with pictures of his family and Dean gazed at one of his Mum and siblings, "All set honey", a voice called out from the doorway.

Dean turned around and smiled at his Mum. She was a small skinny woman with short cropped hair that was dyed red, "Yeah all ready, thanks for agreeing to this".

"Well it's not every day that you get invited to a special summer school in the States", Mrs Thomas replied. The cover story Tommy came up with was that the teens would be learning from a legendary wizard during their stay in the country. True they would spend some time in Briarwood but mostly they were leaving to get away from the country for a while. Before Dean could reply the doorbell rang, "I'll get it", his Mum stated and moved towards the front door.

A few moments later Mrs Thomas returned with a tall dark haired man in his early thirties. Somehow Dean knew this was his escort by the green button shirt the man was wearing, "You must be Dean", he said with a broad Australian accent as he extended his hand, "Xander Bly at your service".

"Good to meet you Xander", Dean grasped his hand and picked up his bag, "we'd better be going if we're going to make our flight".

Dean nodded and gave his Mum a one armed hug, "Bye Mum, I'll see you in a few weeks".

"Take care love", Mrs Thomas kissed him on the cheek before letting him go.

The green ranger gave his Mum one last smile and walked through the door, "I must say I've been admiring your work against this Voldy guy", Xander began once they were further down the street, "what kind of name is Lord Voldemort anyway, back in my day the villains had proper names like Necrolai and the Master".

"It's safe to assume you're the green Mystic Ranger then?" Dean asked.

Xander stopped and turned around, "I'll introduce myself again, hi I'm Xander Bly. As you correctly deducted I am the green Mystic Ranger".

"Nice to meet you once again", Dean replied, "so how are we getting to Briarwood, I assume we're not actually flying".

Xander shook his head, "Got something much better planned mate". Pausing at the end of an alley, "this looks as good a place as any", the green Mystic Ranger pointed at a tree. Dean looked hesitant for a moment, "Like you guys haven't got any unusual methods of transportation". Dean couldn't disagree with Xander there but he was still a little skeptical when they approached the tree. Without warning Xander jumped towards the giant tree and disappeared with a flash. Putting his shock to one side, Dean shrugged his shoulders and followed Xander.

Hundreds of miles away in Winchester, England _,_ Hermione Granger sat in her front room as a few tears ran down her face. A couple of hours ago she had performed a charm on her parents, erasing every memory they had of their daughter. She added a compulsion charm that strongly suggested that they get on a plane and immediately move to Australia. The yellow ranger watched from the shadows as her parents packed their suitcases with a blank expression, got in their car and drove to the airport. They didn't even look back when they pulled out of the driveway.

The yellow ranger knew it would be tough, sending her parents away, but it was the only way she could think of to keep them safe. The rangers weren't sure if Snape had shared their identities with Voldemort, or even if he knew who the rangers were. Even if he didn't have this knowledge, Hermione would be a primary target for the Death Eaters, her close friendship with Harry ensured that. Perhaps a few weeks away from the country would do her some good.

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts by a male voice, "I'm sorry I did try and knock". The yellow ranger grabbed her wand and immediately leapt to her feet. She spun around and came face to face with a red haired man He was wearing a loose pair of olive coloured trousers and a yellow shirt. "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you", he had up her hands, "I'm Chip Thorn, I think you were expecting me".

"No I'm the one who should be sorry", Hermione slowly lowered her wand, slightly mortified that she had pointed it at a muggle. She dried her face with the end of her long sleeved yellow jumper, "Good to meet you Chip", she offered her hand to her predecessor.

Chip lightly grasped her hand but frowned in the teen's direction, "Are you alright, you look like you've been crying?"

"Yeah just a little emotional", Hermione quickly stood up and grasped a small beaded bag.

"Sure", Chip wasn't convinced in the slightest by Hermione's explanation but decided against pushing her any further. Her glance then turned towards the bag, "Is that all you're taking?"

"You'll be surprised what I can fit in here", the yellow ranger shook the bag and it made a heavy rattling sound, "damn it took me ages to sort those out". It took her a few moments to realise Chip hadn't batted an eyelid, "You don't seem surprised about any of this", she asked the older man.

"I've fought off undead monsters and actual vampires", Chip shrugged, "nothing surprises me anymore".

"I must say that I'm looking forward to meeting Udonna and visiting Briarwood", Hermione began, "it'll be good to get away for a while".

Chip nodded, feeling that she understood the younger girl a little bit more. She hoped that the time away would give her more time to get to know Hermione a little better. Perhaps he would get to the bottom of the teen's emotional distress. He placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and a small portal appeared underneath them. Hermione didn't get a chance to protest as they disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

The sun was beginning to set over the small village of Ottery St Catchpole as Ron slowly walked away from his family home. The Burrow was an odd building, cobbled together from various different sources and held together with magic. Molly Weasley was reluctant to let her youngest son out of her sight given the current instability in the wizarding world. She grudgingly agreed when Ron explained that Tommy was chaperoning the trip. The Weasley's felt they owed the American for saving Bill's life. The oldest sibling would carry the scars of his encounter with Greyback for life but he was alive. That was something they would be forever grateful for.

The Burrow was disappearing into the distance but Ron was still inside the wards. The pathway to the main road was lined with trees, further reducing the natural light in the area. Ron paused as he heard something rustling in the undergrowth. He slipped his backpack off his shoulders and crept in the direction of the noise. It took him a few moments to find the source of the disturbance and when he did, he wasn't happy, "Ginny, what the hell are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" she turned slightly to show off her own bag, "I'm coming with you".

"But Mum said no", Ron sighed, "she'll kill the pair of us for this".

"Ron this is much more important than Mum", Ginny began, "I've been invited and you can't stop me", she placed her hands on her hips and looked at him defiantly. Ron was about to say something but his youngest sibling stopped him, "I can take care of myself".

"Will you give me a chance to speak", Ron snapped, "I know you can look after yourself, I've seen you take down a number of Cedals all by yourself".

"So what's the problem?" Ginny asked.

"I don't want to be on the end of Mum's wrath when she finds out you're missing", Ron smiled.

"I can handle Mum", Ginny chuckled, "one of the benefits of being the youngest".

The two siblings were so busy with their discussion that they failed to notice someone walking up the path towards them. The woman was dressed in a light blue pair of jeans and a dark blue and white stripped top. She brushed her ivory black hair away from her forehead and looked at The Burrow in the distance with a look of awe, "Amazing, I've never seen anything like it", she gasped, drawing the attention of the two Weasley's, "Sorry I should introduce myself, I'm Madison Rocca".

"Geez are you trying to give us a heart attack", Ginny placed a hand over her heart.

"Sorry I was waiting on the road but then I saw this unusual looking building and I just had to investigate", Madison smiled in response.

"You can see this", Ron asked and the blue Mystic Ranger nodded in response, "but that should be impossible, we have muggle repelling wards all around The Burrow".

"Ah yes I was warned about that but Daggeron, one of our mentors, came up with an idea", Madison began, "the ambient wavelength of your magic and our own powers must correlate with each other. This must offer us immunity to the more adverse effects of your wards".

The two Weasley siblings looked at each other before Ron said, "I have no idea what you just said". Ginny too was looking extremely confused with the American's explanation.

Madison grinned, "Neither do I, I think he said it to sound impressive", she held out her hands to the pair, "perhaps we should get going". With a nod, a small seal appeared underneath the trio as they teleported away.

Cho slowly picked her way through the remains of her uncle house with a heavy feeling in her heart. Broken glass from the windows crunched underneath her boots as she walked into the main living area. After staying at home for a few days, the pink ranger had decided to stop by the estate to check for any sign of her uncle. The damage to the property looked exactly the same as the day Ling was held hostage by Death Eaters. There was no sign that anyone had lived there in the previous couple of weeks.

Ling still hadn't responded to her owls so he was clearly in an unplottable location, which was probably for the best. The latest gossip from the Daily Prophet was that the Minister was trying desperately to find the rangers. It probably a publicity stunt but it wasn't too long ago that the Prophet was declaring their power to be dark magic. If they discover that Ling also possessed Chi power, then they would probably force him to sign a register. This would make him easier to find by the less savoury characters within the Ministry.

With a deep sigh, Cho waived her wand and slowly the damage caused to the front room was repaired. She was about to do the same to the front of the property when she heard someone walking up the gravel path. She cautiously looked out the window and saw a brunette woman with several pink streaks in her hair. Based on the physical description given by Tommy, this could only be one person, "You must be Vida".

"That's me", the woman replied as she surveyed the damage and shook her head, "Captain Technicolour wasn't kidding when he described the state of this place".

"Sadly this is the type of people we're dealing with", Cho sighed, "I used to love coming here as a child but it'll probably never be the same again".

"Isn't there some kind of spell you could do to fix this?" Vida asked, "if not I could do something", she offered, pulling out a strange looking mobile telephone.

Cho nodded and with another wave of her wand, all the damage to the front of the building was repaired, "This is all cosmetic though, from now on this will always be the place where my Uncle was tortured". Cho bit her lip and held back a couple of tears. Vida responded by slipping an arm across her shoulders and pulling her into a one armed hug, "Thanks", the teen sniffed.

"Hey us pink's need to stick together", Vida smiled, "are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I don't want to hang around here any longer than I have to", Cho replied. Vida nodded and pointed her morpher to the floor. The pair slipped through a portal, leaving the crumbling remains of Ling Zhou's home behind.

Number 4 Privet Drive was empty that evening, apart from the black haired teen standing in the living room. The Dursley's had gone out for the evening, leaving Harry home alone to wait for his escort to Angel Grove. Technically Harry hadn't asked the Dursley's for permission to travel to America. He hadn't asked the order either, although he had heard from the others that they didn't want him to go. Mad Eye Moody was especially vocal in his opposition to the trip and the rest of the Order had agreed with the former Auror.

Initially Harry was furious with the decision, especially as Ron had been given permission. The youngest male Weasley was in just as much danger as he was and yet he was able to make the journey. After thinking about it for a bit, he realised that the decision wasn't too surprising. The Order seemed determined to keep him locked inside 'The Dursley Prison' at all costs. He remembered what Cho said before they left Hogwarts for the last time, some things in life were much more important.

The last week had given him time to come up with a plan. He'd managed to persuade the Dursley's to go out for the night and once they were safely out the house, that would be his time to leave. He knew that someone from the Order was watching the place but they didn't actually look inside the property. If everything went well then the red ranger would be gone before the Order realised it.

Harry brought the communicator Tommy gave him up to his mouth and placed a call, "This is Harry, the coast is clear".

He took a step back and a few moments later a column of red light filled the room. The new arrival was a man in his early thirties with short dark hair. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a red t-shirt. He looked at Harry in a manner that suggested he was appraising him, "You must be the new red ranger", he said and Harry nodded in response, "Nick Russell", he added

Nick extended his hand and shook Harry's hand with a powerful grip, "Sorry for the unusual meeting but I'm sure Tommy explained the reasons why", Harry stated.

"Yeah it came up a couple of times", Nick replied, "I've hadn't met too many celebrities before", he joked.

"Very funny", Harry groaned and glanced out the window, "we probably should get out of here, I don't want to take too many chances that someone sees us". Nick agreed and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder before teleporting them away to America. It would be a worryingly long time before anyone even noticed that Harry had left Privet Drive.


	20. The White Witch

_Chapter 20 – The White Witch_

Upon landing from their various of transportation, the teens quickly surveyed their new surroundings. The room was a mixture of modern electronics and organic, wooden materials. Various smoking cauldrons were dotted around the area along with numerous coloured lights that matched the Ranger's colours. Sitting in the far corner was possibly the thickest book any of the teens had ever seen, "Where are we?" Dean asked the others, "I've never been to Briarwood but I didn't think it would look like this".

"It looks like we're inside a hollowed out tree", Ginny added, rubbing her hand along the wooden surface of the walls.

Hermione though was most interesting the book, "Xenotome", she muttered curiously, "I've never heard of a Xenotome before". Her curiosity finally got the best of her and she attempted to open the book but to her surprise, the cover wouldn't move, "Huh, maybe there's a secret to opening this, like the Monster Book of Monsters", she theorised. She stroked the spine, however, this didn't have the desired result.

"Forget the book", Ron was practically drooling over five multi coloured brooms secured behind a glass panel, "I haven't never seen anything like these before".

"Oh those are the Mystic Racers", a voice called out from the edge of the room. The Rangers turned around and spotted a blonde haired woman in a purple and white robe, "You must be the Rangers from England", she continued, "I'm Claire, Udonna will be along in a couple of moments". She held up a tray with five mugs, each one steaming violently, perhaps smoking would be a better description, "I've made some tea, make yourselves at home".

The teens smiled nervously and reluctantly took the mugs. They took an exploratory sniff, it was possibly the most unpleasant smell they had ever experienced, "Thanks", Harry replied for the group, "what kind of tea is this exactly?"

"Oh my own personal blend", Claire stated, "Phineas the Troglin really loves it", she turned and left the room without saying another word.

"I have no idea what a Troglin is but I really don't think they have good taste buds", Dean carefully placed his mug down like it was about to explode.

"Honestly, must you be so disrespectful to others", Hermione huffed, "I bet this doesn't taste as bad as it smells". She took an exploratory sip of the drink before stopping cold in her tracks. Her face suddenly drained of colour and the other heard a couple of retching noises from the yellow ranger, "I stand corrected", she managed to gag out.

A small chuckle came from the same entrance where Claire previously stood. The new arrival was a tall, older woman with long red hair that was greying in a few places. She was dressed all in white, a pair of white trousers teamed with flowing white blouse, "Claire made you try her home brew", the woman laughed, "you are truly a brave witch".

"What's in this", Hermione coughed, "it tastes like something used to start a fire".

"Probably not too far from the truth", the red head shook her head, doing little to reassure the yellow ranger, "I believe introductions are in order, I am the Sorceress Udonna and welcome to Rootcore".

Harry stepped forward for his team, "I'm Harry Potter, the brave witch is Hermione Granger", the yellow managed a small wave, "we've also got Cho Chang, Dean Thomas, Ron and Ginny Weasley".

"Thank you for welcoming us to your home", Cho added, "I've heard the legend of Rootcore but I never imagine it actually existed".

Udonna smiled, "Much like your world, many myths have a solid foundation in reality". She looked at the Rangers appraisingly, "I don't remember the Mystic's looking so young", she continued, "Power Rangers seem to be getting younger or perhaps I am just getting older".

"Technically I'm not a Power Ranger", Ginny raised her hand, "I'm not sure what I am actually", she added with a frown.

"A team could not function without a solid foundation", Udonna reassured the youngest visitor, "I found myself in a support role to the Mystic Rangers until I reclaimed my powers. Something tells me your story is not over yet Ginny". A silence fell over the group, during which time Udonna moved towards the Xenotome, "I see you were interested in this book Hermione", the white witch added.

Hermione nodded, "Books tend not to leave a nasty taste in the mouth", she mumbled.

Udonna laughed and grazed her hand over the giant book, to the Rangers surprise it opened by itself, "Try not to be offended, the Xenotome only responds to the those associated with the Mystics. Perhaps in time it will open itself to you too", the book stopped on a page, drawing a small smile to Udonna, "let's see if I can assist you", she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a wand with a snowflake symbol on the tip. A quick wave later Udonna asked, "Better?"

"Yes actually", Hermione ran her tongue along her teeth, "minty taste too".

"Wordless magic", Cho added with awe, "not too many people in our world can manage that".

The white witch smiled, "A shame really, the branch of magic the Mystics and I use is not that different from yours". Udonna tucked her Snow Staff away before continuing, "Truly it does not matter, ultimately magic is magic".

This reminded Harry of a conversation he shared with Tommy prior to the former green ranger leaving for America. Professor Dumbledore theorised something along the same lines, could everything across the various magical realms be linked together? "How much do you know about Chi power?" the red ranger asked.

"The magic of the ancients", Udonna replied, "there have been no active Chi users in thousands of years. The Xenotome documents the existence of Chi users in Ancient China around 6,000 years ago but there has been nothing recorded since".

"Then I think it's about time the Xenotome was updated", Cho carefully summoned a small ball of pink Chi energy in her right hand. The other rangers followed suit with a small energy ball in their respective colours.

Udonna almost collapsed in shock, "By the power of the Ancient Mystics", she gasped in awe, "I have researched various rumours that the Chi users disappeared into hiding after the Great Battle but I never believed it to be true".

"Like you said, every myth and all that", Dean dispersed his Chi energy, "so I guess you're not the person to talk about the links between ancient Chi and current magic then".

"Sadly you are correct Dean", Udonna replied, regaining a little of her composure, "like your deceased Headmaster, I am a student of magic lore but there are very few people left who have experience of Chi".

Ron scoffed slightly, "Outside of us and Voldemort army, I don't think there's anyone who's personally experienced Chi. I mean, anyone still alive would have to be over 6,000 years old".

"You'll be surprised Ron", Udonna replied with a small smile, "until very recently there were three people alive who had first hand experience of Chi. Sadly when Zordon passed nearly twenty years ago, that left just two".

The teens looked at each other, "You can't be serious?" Dean asked in surprised.

Udonna nodded, "Mystic Squadron, I believe it's time you met the Mystic Mother and her husband".

Back in England, Lord Voldemort sat alone in his throne room in Malfoy Manor, reflecting his recent triumph over Albus Dumbledore. The old man never saw it coming and it was one of his own students that had been instrumental in bringing his dream to reality. It was a shame that the Malfoy heir hadn't been the one to cast the killing blow but that was inconsequential. He was a weak man, just like his father but he would have a use in his new regime.

One black mark on the invasion of Hogwarts was the capture of Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf would soon be free, Voldemort didn't doubt it but that wasn't the point. He had been injured and knocked out by a mere muggle. Voldemort knew all along that Tommy Oliver wasn't a wizard thanks to his spy. He didn't know why the foreigner was important but he had proved himself to be a brave fighter. The sight of monsters didn't frighten him in the slightest which told Voldemort that he was used to being in a battle.

A few hours ago he felt the connection between himself and Harry Potter fade, meaning there was significant distance between the pair. Somehow Harry had left the country and was outside his reach. Initially the Dark Lord was furious but after he calmed down, he realised this would be the perfect time to strike against the Order. Their supposed saviour had fled the country and left them behind, he could use this to his advantage.

The door opened and Dolohov, Bellatrix and Snape marched in, slamming the door behind them. This had been Voldemort's crowning achievement, giving the power of the Gormal Generals to these three. In the ancient world, the Gormal Generals were the Emperors personal bodyguards, fiercely loyal and just a couple of steps below him in terms of power. By giving this power to his three most trusted and powerful servants, he had almost assured himself of victory.

The trio kneeled before Voldemort and bowed their heads in submission, "Rise my friends, I'm pleased to see that you have recovered".

"That Potter brat got the jump on us", Dolohov grunted, "it won't happen again".

"So it's true then", Voldemort sunk back into his chair, "Harry Potter does possess Chi Power".

Snape nodded slowly, "I'm sorry to report that he does my Lord. He was able to counter my dark energy with a powerful burst of fire".

"Of course, it stands to reason that my mortal enemy is the leader of this Mystic Squadron", the Dark Lord spat. He slammed his fists again his chair and there was a loud crack of lightning.

"And where Potter is, you can be sure that the Weasley blood traitor and the mudblood aren't that far behind", Bellatrix added.

"A sane thought from you Bella", Snape snorted, "will wonders never cease".

The dark witch was about to curse the man but Voldemort stopped her, "Now Bella, what I believe my acerbic follower was trying to say is that your head has been much clearer since you accepted my power", he glared at Snape, "isn't that right Severus".

The potions master was reluctant to admit it but Bellatrix Lestrange didn't appear to have any of the madness that had once afflicted her. That just made her even more dangerous, "Of course My Lord", Snape replied smoothly.

"Good, I can't have any dissention in my ranks, not when we are so close to total victory". Voldemort stood up and began to pace, "It has come to my attention that Harry Potter has left the country".

Dolohov's eyes widened, "But why didn't the Ministry pick up a trace of an international portkey?"

"That is something for you to find out", Voldemort glared at the man, "the boy's hasn't left his hiding place and yet no trace of magic was picked up from him which can only mean that Tommy Oliver or one of these other Americans who have been at Hogwarts in the last few weeks assisted his escape in some way".

"Our spies saw all of them leave the country", Snape began, "there have been no reports of any of them returning".

Voldemort roared and fired a black bolt of energy at the man, "Fool, someone else could've sent someone else to collect the boy". Snape gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying out in pain. The curse was eventually lifted and he slowly stood up, much to the amusement of the other generals.

"I'll scout out the Weasley's hovel", Bellatrix suggested, "perhaps I can get some information out of them".

"No Bella, I've got a better plan", Voldemort paused, "find out everything you can about this Tommy Oliver, perhaps it's time we discovered more about this mysterious stranger". The Dark Lord smile viciously, Harry Potter could run but he couldn't hide forever. Especially now that Lord Voldemort know his big secret.


	21. The Mystic Mother

_Chapter 21 – The Mystic Mother_

The following morning after arriving in Briarwood, the six British teens stood outside Rootcore waiting for their escort to the Mystic Mother. Udonna and the others were tight lipped about this mysterious woman, only that she was the guardian of light magic. Whether this extended to wizarding magic, none of the Mystic Force Ranger knew. The Hogwarts teens were desperate though, if Voldemort possessed Chi magic this could make him virtually unstoppable.

After waiting in the early morning light for a few minutes, Nick appeared outside with Udonna close behind, "The portal to the Mystic Mother is open", the white witch began, "the time with her will be limited so use it wisely".

"I'll guide you to her realm", Nick added, "but once there you'll be on your own".

"Doesn't sound ominous at all", Ron grumbled under his breath, earning him a small slap from Hermione.

Ignoring his friends, Harry spoke up for his team, "Thanks for this", he began, "hopefully we'll be back in time to see more of the city".

"About that", Udonna sighed, "the Mystic Mother mentioned that you wouldn't be returning to Briarwood after your meeting".

Cho frowned, "Not returning? Is she kicking out the city or something".

"No, nothing like that", Udonna insisted, "unfortunately she was rather cryptic in her response, I couldn't obtain any additional information as to your future destination".

Harry sighed, if there was one thing he hated it was a mysterious quest. He'd experienced enough of those during his six years at Hogwarts. His team though needed all the guidance they could get. With Dumbledore dead, this Mystic Mother could be their only hope. Summoning up his Gryffindor courage, he said, "We're ready when you are".

Almost on cue a nearby tree glowed brightly with pure, white light, "Looks like she's ready for you", Nick announced, "after you guys".

One by one the teens stepped up to the tree and through the portal. On the other side all they could see was white, Harry had to shield his eyes from the brightness, "Sorry about this", Nick said from behind the group, "this is a natural defence from any unwanted intruders". Through a gap in his hand, Harry saw Nick point his Mystic Morpher in front of his body and type in a spell code. Instantly the brightness faded, it was still a dazzling white but it was now comfortable enough to see.

A few hundred metres away from a small property, sitting on a bed of clouds. The gothic pillars reminded Harry of a small temple or shrine, a fitting place for the mistress of light magic, "Well this is where I leave you", Nick began, moving to shake hands with Harry, "sorry the visit was so brief, perhaps when you beaten this Voldemort guy you'll come back for longer".

"We'd like that", Harry replied, accepting the handshake. Almost instantly though Nick disappeared, "Huh, that was unexpected".

"So is the house on a bed of clouds", Dean shrugged, "one thing I've learned since becoming a Power Ranger, you just have to go with the flow".

The house began to glow softly, almost inviting the teens to visit, "Maybe we should see if someone's home", Ginny urged the group, "this place is giving me the creeps".

Agreeing with the red head's suggestion, Harry led the group up the invisible path towards the property. As they got a little closer, they noticed there was no door, "How are we going to get inside?" Ron asked.

"Shhh", Hermione cut in front of the blue ranger, "I think I hear voices".

Harry too could hear some noise coming from inside the property, only it wasn't what he expected to hear from the home of the Mystic Mother. There were two distinct voices, a raspy, deep male voice and a shrill, screechy female one. Evidently the woman wasn't overly impressed with the man, "What have I told you about leaving your stuff lying around the kitchen Zedd?"

"You're one to talk", the man identified as Zedd countered, "if I trip over your staff one more time-"

"You'll do what radiator face", the woman spat in response.

The man snorted in reply, "Honestly woman that wasn't a clever insult when it was factually accurate". The teens looked at each other nervously, slightly uncomfortable by the ongoing argument between the couple, "Now, perhaps you should focus on something more important like greeting our guests waiting outside".

"What guests?" the woman shrieked. They was a pause and the wizards couldn't make out the continued conversation inside. Suddenly there was a flash and the teens found they had moved from the exterior of the property to the interior. Standing in front of them was a middle ages Asian woman dressed in a flowing white robe and elaborate headdress. Next to her was a slightly older man with greying hair and a blood red robe, "Welcome", the woman greeted with a much softer tone then she used when the teens were eavesdropping, "I am the Mystic Mother and this is my trusted adviser-".

"And hen-pecked husband", the man snorted.

"Can it would you", the woman snapped before turning her attention back to the teens, "as I was trying to say, this is my trusted adviser and husband, Zedd".

Something twigged inside Hermione's mind at hearing the man's name, "Zedd, as in Lord Zedd?" she asked, "one of the primary enemies of the original team of Power Rangers?"

A small grin appeared on Zedd's face, "Good to see my notoriety still lives on", he stated, "my days as the Monarch of Evil are long behind me", he added jovially, like he was talking about going to the shops, "nowadays I devote my time to research and aiding my darling wife with her duties as the Mystic Mother".

"Which basically means he spends all day sitting on his backside", the Mystic Mother snorted.

"Like you've got a busy schedule", Zedd snorted, "how many times does your crystal ball need monitoring anyway?"

The awkward feeling had returned for the teens, they had come to the Mystic Mother for advice, not to bear witness to a domestic argument, "Have we come at a bad time?" Dean asked, "I assume Udonna told you who we are?"

"Of course my dears", the Mystic Mothers replied warmly, "anything to assist the growth of good magic". She turned to her husband and switched to her nasally voice, "Zeddy, do something useful and fix our guests some drinks". She looked around the room, which was an extension of the misty atmosphere from the outside, "And make this place a little more homely would you".

Zedd sighed grumpily as a large silver staff with a stylised Z appeared in his hands, "It's days like this which make me miss Goldar". A crack of lightning temporarily blinded the teens as the room turned into a large, comfy looking sitting room. Two large chairs were at one end of the room with two sofas flanking the area, "Make yourselves at home", Zedd added before turning to his wife, "your usual bitter tea Rita my dear", he added in jest as he magicked up several pots of teas and coffee for the centre of the room.

"Rita?" once again Hermione's mind was working, "Rita Repulsa?" the Mystic Mother sighed in annoyance, "how did you become the mistress of all good magic?"

"Aren't you a smart one", Rita grumbled towards the yellow ranger, "it's an interesting story but that's not why you're here today is it?"

"No it isn't", Harry began, "have you heard of Chi magic before?" Both Rita and Zedd went wide eyed, "I'll take that as a yes then", the red ranger continued.

Rita took a slow, deliberate drink from her china tea cup before answering the wizard, "I thought there was something familiar about your powers", she began, "Chi magic is amongst the oldest brand of magic in the universe".

"There's many practitioners of Chi across the galaxies", Zedd picked up the story, his earlier argument with Rita long forgotten, "including myself at one point".

"You?" Cho asked sceptically, "I've heard about the infamous Lord Zedd, I wouldn't have picked you as a Chi user".

A sad smile passed over Zedd's face, "Voldermort and I share a common character fault, we both love power and will do anything to get as much power as we can possibly get. Chi is all about balance, too much darkness can be intoxicating.

"The same can be said of light too", Rita added, "peace and tranquillity is a noble goal but they can be a path to dangerous inaction. Perhaps that's why magic chose me to be the Mystic Mother, only someone who's known true darkness can appreciate true light".

Harry sighed internally, this was turning into a Dumbledore style conversation, "You must be the red ranger", Rita shook her head whilst looking at Harry, "no matter the team, the red ranger always lacks patience".

"Forgive me for wanting to stop a psychopath from taking over our world as quickly as possible", Harry replied dryly.

Zedd snorted, "I like him", the former Emperor of Evil said to his wife, "but I refer you to my earlier comment, Chi is all about balance and it will do anything to keep that balance".

The teens thought for a moment until Ginny spoke up, "So if Voldemort's strengthened his army then Chi will find a way to strength our side too?"

"In theory", Rita began, "in my experience though magic isn't that literal though". Rita's staff appeared in her hands and the orb in the centre slowly powered up, "I'm sure it hasn't escaped your attention that your opponent bare striking resemblance to Zedd's monsters".

"Tommy mentioned something about that", Dean replied.

"Ah Tommy Oliver", Zedd smiled, "who would've thought he'd become a Doctor". After a couple of moments he returned to his story, "Chi isn't like any other source of energy, it can never truly be destroyed. Unbeknownst to me, I tapped into the residual Chi energy around the planet when creating my monsters, giving them similar visages to the Gormal".

"But not the power", Cho commented, much to Zedd's grumpiness, "not to knock your evil powers but there isn't much that can truly rival a fully powered Gormal beast".

Zedd reluctantly nodded his head, "After much research in the last 20 years I have also reached the same conclusion".

"So that explains the monsters, I guess", Ron began uncertainly, "but what about our zords?"

"Why do they bare a resemblance to the old Thunder Zords?" Rita finished the blue rangers question for him, "unfortunately only Zordon would know the answer to that".

"And he died several years ago, correct?" Hermione asked, to which Rita and Zedd nodded in agreement, "Maybe he saw images of the Mythic Beasts and copied their designs for the Thunder Zords", she theorised.

"Knowing Zordon as I did, I suspect it wasn't quite as simple as that", Rita responded. She powered up her crystal orb to show the teens some more images, "Have you ever taken a close look at Tommy's second set of powers?" Pictures of the original white ranger appeared on the orb, "Do they look familiar?"

The wizards looked closely but didn't quite understand, that was until the images changed to superimpose the Mystic Squadron next to the white ranger, "They're a perfect fit", Dean stated in confusion.

"That's not possible", Cho added, "there were only five ancient warriors, not six".

"Someone hasn't read up on their Ranger history", Rita shook her head, "adding a sixth rangers to a team is almost a tradition".

"One you unwittingly started", Zedd couldn't help but snip at his wife, "also remember what I said about balance, if one side becomes too powerful then Chi will automatic try to balance the odds".

"By creating a new set of powers?" Harry asked, "Can Chi really do that?"

Zedd nodded, "It can, I will caution you though, this sense of balance will work for both sides".

"We've noticed", Hermione sighed, "the power of the Gormal Generals have been given to some of Voldemort's most loyal followers".

"Then there's no time to lose", Rita stood up and grabbed her staff, "no doubt Voldemort and his followers will attempt to claim this potential new power for themselves".

Harry though wasn't so sure, "Hang on a second, just where are you sending us and how can you be so sure there's a new Chi power out there".

"To where the Power Rangers began, Angel Grove", Rita answered, "as to why we're so sure there's a new power out there", she looked at the husband and smiled, "experience tells us that if the bad guys have gotten a power upgrade, the Power Rangers will inevitably find an upgrade of their own". In conjunction with Zedd, the pair cross their staffs, "and it will be nice to be on the right side of this for once".

Before the teens could protest a portal opened underneath them and they were spirited away to Angel Grove. The moment the wizards disappeared, Rita's knees gave out, "I thought they'd never leave", she commented weakly.

"Are you certain it's him", Zedd asked with concern, "he hasn't been seen in over twenty years. Maybe Zordon's energy wave cleansed his existence from the universe".

"No", Rita replied firmly, "I would recognise his evil energy anywhere". She struggled to her feet and dropped heavily into a chair, "Someone has called on the dark powers of Lokar once again".


	22. Putties

**_A/N -_** _As stated in Chapter 1, this story takes place in the same universe as my "Heroes of Their Time" story. You shouldn't need to read that story (although I heard its a pretty good read) to understand any references in this and future chapters. They're mostly minor backstory points but just a heads up_

 _Chapter 22 – Putties_

The wizarding teens landed in a heap, limbs tangled together amongst the pile, "I really hate magical transportation", Harry groaned from the bottom of muddle, "where the hell are we now?" The group were disappointed to see they had landed in a pile of rubble, sandy coloured lumps dotted around a dusty floor. Amongst the debris though, Harry could see the faint signs of technology. The odd metal panel here, a jumble of wires there, it made for the strangest of scenes.

Slowly dragging themselves off the floor, the group began to look around, "No roof", Dean commented, looking up at the open sky above, "looks like a bomb has gone off here", he added.

"And some time ago", Cho grabbed a heap of dust from a nearby ledge, "whatever happened here, it must've been years ago".

Harry noticed an empty space on the far wall, the gap looked vaguely cylindrical in shape, "I wonder what used to be there", he muttered to himself. He turned to the others, "Perhaps we should take a closer look outside", he directed.

There were several gaps amongst the rubble, bright sunlight streamed between the remains. Picking their ways through and into the outside world, the hot and humid air immediately hit them. Shielding their eyes from the sun, the teens couldn't anything on the horizon, "Where do you think we are?" Ron asked.

"Clearly a desert of some kind", Hermione answered, "Africa maybe?"

"Not even close", a voice stunned the teens. Before Harry could react, he felt a cool metal blade against his throat, "Now, perhaps you can start by telling us exactly who you are?"

Harry looked down at the blade, it was a short dagger with a yellow handle held by a clearly feminine hand. Looking around he saw two other figures amongst the sunlight, a petite brunette pointing a bow and arrow in their direction and a stocky male wielding a large black axe, "Look we don't want any trouble", the red ranger began, "can we just put the weapons down and discuss this".

"Only if you put the sticks down", the brunette with the bow replied. The wizarding teens who weren't being held at the point of a blade had quickly drawn their wands, "Seriously what are you going to do, poke us to death?"

Hermione quickly looked at the individual who was holding Harry, "Governor Trini Kwan?" she asked in confusion, "Governor of California, what are you doing here?"

"Taking Homeland Security very seriously and personally", Trini replied, "now you're trespassing so I suggest you leave very quickly".

Before Harry could replied a familiar voice broke through the tension, "Harry?" the red ranger recognised the voice of Tommy Oliver. He twisted his head slightly and spotted the Ranger legend. He was joined by a powerfully built man wearing red and a sandy blonde haired man in blue, "You're a long way from home", Tommy added.

"Well you can thank the Mystic Mother", Harry sighed, "she dropped us off rather abruptly".

The man in red slowly lowered his sword, "The Mystic Mother?" he shook his head, "Rita", he groaned, "stand down everyone, false alarm".

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Trini slowly released her grip, "Sorry about that", she began, "your unexpected arrival triggered our warning system, we like to guard this site with our lives".

"Perhaps some introductions are in order", Tommy added and went around the group, "Trini Kwan yellow ranger, Zack Taylor black ranger, Billy Cranston blue ranger, Jason Lee Scott red ranger and finally Kimberly Oliver pink ranger". A few muted waves of greeting were exchanged amongst the group, "You're standing on the remains of the Power Chamber, home of the original team of Power Rangers".

The wizarding teens might be relatively new to the Ranger business but even they knew the significance of this site. This was the former home of the legendary Zordon of Eltar, original mentor to the first team of Power Rangers. Tommy had talked about the original team, in the confusion of the ambush though, the teens failed to recognise them. "Perhaps we should go somewhere else", Cho suggested, "maybe somewhere near civilisation".

The veteran Rangers nodded, "Alright everyone stand close to someone", Jason suggested and reached down to his wrist communicator. The group disappeared in several flashes of light, reappearing in the loading area of the Angel Grove Youth Centre. Before any further conversation could take place they heard the sounds of screaming from outside. Immediately everyone switched to battle mode and ran out into the street. Their first thought was that Voldemort had found them but it was something completely different, "Oh my God", Kim exclaimed, "I'm not seeing things am I".

"I'm afraid not Kim" Tommy replied, "those are definitely putties".

The grey skinned footsoldiers of Rita Repulsa hadn't been seen in Angel Grove for over twenty years but the residents remembered the destruction they caused only too well. They were running as far away as possible from the creatures, "Great, I thought I'd seen the last of these things after that incident in Hunston Valley last year", Jason grumbled under his breath.

"So did I", Tommy added grimly, "looks like we've got work to do".

"Any particular weakness?" Cho asked.

"Hit them as hard as possible", Zack suggested.

Dean loosened his neck and it cracked in the process, "I think we can do that".

The twelve immediately jumped into action with Dean and Zack taking the putties nearest the youth center. The black ranger stretched his arms and popped his body slightly, "What do you call that move?" Dean asked.

"Hip hop kido", Zack replied, "watch and learn rookie". Zack bent backward to dodge an attack and placed one hand on the ground. Using his momentum, he kicked out his legs and knocked a Putty around the head. He managed to complete a full flip before attempted his next move. A split leg kick disposed of two more Putties and the black ranger landed on the ground in a split position. He popped his hips and spun around on the ground, sweeping the legs of another Putty in the process.

"Nice but let me show you how we do things in the East End", Dean ran up and kicked a fallen Putty straight in the head, knocking the creature out.

"Not as elegant but effective", Zack laughed.

"How about we disappear", Dean placed his hands together and a green mist formed around the pair, "now we're invisible to them".

Zack smiled, "This is the start of a great partnership", with them invisible, they were able to pick off the Putties at will.

Over with the girls, Kim used her gymnastics skills to backflip away from a couple of would be attackers. The Putties were met with synchronised kicks to their stomachs from Hermione and Cho, "These things are tougher than Cedals", Cho brushed her hair out of her face, "and the gits broke my favourite hair clip".

"Is that really the most important thing right now", Hermione snapped and punched one of the creatures in the stomach. "My guess is they're not created by magic like Cedals so they've got more substance to them".

"You sound just like Billy", Trini chuckled, taking a Putty down with a tornado kick. Spying a loose piece of wood on the ground, she smashed over one of the creatures head and knocked it towards the current yellow ranger. Hermione smirked and for her, time seemed to slow down. A quick left, right jab winded the Putty and a final roundhouse kick stopped it permanently, "I've never seen such quick hands before", Trini commented.

"Chi enhanced", Hermione shrugged, "and they're still only just faster than your natural movements".

"Can we save the love fest until we've taken care of these guys", Cho groaned, "Kim herd them towards me, I've got an idea". The original pink complied and began a series of flips that forced the Putties to chase after her. Once she was past Cho, the current pink ranger bent down low and thrust her hand into the air. A strong gust of wind blew the creatures away into a nearby building.

Kim patted her successor on the shoulder, "Morphinominal job", she smiled.

Near the edge of the park, the others had managed to chase a group of Putties away from some civilians. Now all they had to do was take care of them, "Remember what I taught you?" Tommy asked Ginny.

The red head was standing back to back with the original green ranger, "Let's find out", she kicked her legs high into the air and caught an onrushing creature in the chest, "I did it".

"Great job", Tommy said but she soon had a Putty rushing towards him. He reached down and grabbed a large branch, "Hey Putty fetch", stupidly the creature stopped and looked away, giving Tommy the opportunity to crack it around the head, "As that Putty just demonstrated, never let your guard down".

Ginny smiled and decided to try something out that Kim had showed her. Breaking into a run, she rolled forward and placed her hands on the ground, kicking her legs out in the process. It didn't quite work as her arms gave way at the wrong moment and she missed her target. Fortunately Harry was on hand to kick the creatures away from his girlfriend, "My hero", she deadpanned.

"Perhaps walk before you try and flip", he smiled.

"Hey rookie", Jason called out, "I think we've got trouble".

Harry looked in the direction of Jason's eyeline where a man and woman were getting harassed by a few Putties. Almost immediately he recognised the shabby robes on the man and the shocking pink hair on the woman, "Great they choose now to find me", he groaned, "Jason, Tommy, Billy can you handle these guys?" he called out.

"I'm a little rusty but I think we'll be fine", Billy replied, punching a Putty in the gut in the process.

"Great Ron, Ginny you're with me", Harry began, "operation save the Order's arse is about to begin".

Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks were extremely confused. They were told simply to head to a city in America called Angel Grove and check that Harry was alright. They were already in the States after Tonks had the idea of eloping to Las Vegas. The newlyweds were annoyed to be spending the first day of their honeymoon in the city but nothing compared to getting attacked by some weird looking creatures. They were similar yet different to the Cedals that had shown up periodically back home.

They had been staking out a building called a Youth Center when the creatures appeared. They followed the crowd away from the building and hid in the park. They were surprised when not only Harry came out to fight the creatures but so did the other students that had travelled to America. They also recognised Tommy Oliver but the other five were strangers to them. They were so focused on Harry that they failed to notice some Putties sneaking up behind them, "I see it's not just us that are affected by weird creatures", Remus said to wife as he slowly back away.

"Maybe we can blast these ones", Tonks whispered back.

"Too many muggles around", Remus shook his head, "although they seem to be aware of what they are". One of the Putties lunged towards Tonks but Remus pushed it away with an animalistic roar, his wolf very close to the surface. Tonks joined in by and gave it a weak kick in the stomach, "They're certainly as strong as those things back home".

"Moony, Tonks get down", they heard Harry call out and they did as they were told. He leapt over their heads and flattened the Putty with a strong kick. They then saw the two youngest Weasley's chip in with kicks of their own. With the threat gone, Harry turned around, "What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing", Remus replied with his best teacher voice, "Only one of you has permission to be here".

"Leave them alone Remus", Tonks sighed, "I'm sure you snuck away from home a few times".

"Yes but I didn't travel half way around the world in the process", Remus replied, "give us one good reason why we shouldn't take you home right now?"

The trio looked amongst themselves but they saw Jason making a gesture with his wrist. The Putties were gone and they needed to check in with Zordon, "We're kinda busy right now, tell you what we'll catch up soon", Ginny spat out and ran past the couple, "oh and I saw the rings, congratulations by the way".

Instinctively the Lupin's looked down at their new wedding rings and that was the distraction Ron needed. He used a little gravity power to ensure that they wouldn't move for a few seconds, giving them time to teleport away. When they could move, everyone had disappeared, "That was weird", Tonks sighed, "surely they didn't apparate".

"Hermione has a licence but I don't think the others do", Remus frowned, "and surely they wouldn't use magic in front of muggles".

Tonks placed her hands on her hips, "What the hell is going on?" That was a question that the rangers were about to ask the veterans, the reappearance of Putties surely meant nothing but bad news.


	23. The Evil That Women Do

_Chapter 23 – The Evil That Women Do_

"What the hell is going on?" Jason voiced his frustration out loud. All the rangers were exhausted after fending off one of the biggest platoons of Putties they had ever seen. There hadn't been any warning of the coming attack so they and the residents of Angel Grove had been caught completely unaware, "Did the sensors pick up anything before the Putties arrived?" the original red ranger added.

The emergency teleport function on the veteran Ranger's communicators had returned them to their previous location, the remains of the Power Chamber, "Most of the sensors and alarms were removed", Trini replied, "Since Angel Grove isn't the focus of monster attacks anymore, the State couldn't justify keeping expensive equipment in the city".

Kim nervously bit her nails, "Does this have anything to do with the incident in Hunston last year?" The previous year, the Dino Charge team encountered Scorpina who somehow had escaped the Zordon wave twenty years ago. She teamed with the Legion of Deboss and revived Goldar and Zeltrax to wreak havoc. After kidnapping Jason and Conner McKnight, the Mighty Morphin, Dino Thunder and Dino Charge Rangers teamed up finally eliminate the threat. Scorpina dragged also revived a fleet of Putties but they had been destroyed along with the reanimated villians.

"I don't think so", Jason began, "I'll double check with Keira but I'm sure she would've mentioned something by now". Keira Cranston was the purple Dino Charge Ranger and the daughter of Billy. Jason had adopted her at an early age and the red ranger thought of her as his daughter.

"Either way", Bill added nervously, "the appearance of putties can only mean trouble".

The Mystic Squadron stood slightly to the side of the other rangers. Hermione waved her wand a few times, chanting a spell Harry never heard of before. After a few moments the yellow ranger paused and frowned, "I've picked up a couple of magical signatures in the area, could be some of the city's own magical population".

"It's probably Remus and Tonks", Harry replied to the surprise of the yellow ranger, "apparently they came to send me back home".

"The same people that didn't even know that you had left?" Trini asked.

Harry nodded, "Some of them yeah, welcome to my world".

"I've got a few contacts, I'll get them to look into the putties", Tommy began, "for now I suggest that you return to the city and wait. Whilst this attack could be nothing it would be unwise for us not to take precautions". He looked around at the other veteran Rangers, "I assume you brought a morpher of some kind", he added.

"Never leave home without it", Zack replied for the group and each of them flashed their Power Morphers.

The red Mystic looked over at the other Ranger's, he had a slightly different agenda in mind, "Go with the others back to the city", he said to his team.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked his leader.

"To take care of a furry little problem", he answered cryptically.

After failing to locate Harry, Remus and Tonks retreated to a nearby cafe to regroup. The former Professor tried to use a 'Point Me' spell to locate the teen but he wasn't able to get a fix on him, "He must be in an unplottable location", he whispered to his new bride.

"I didn't think that California had a strong magical presence", Tonks frowned, "I know about Salem and the community around there but that's on the other side of the country.

"There is a magical school not too far from here", Remus began, "it's relatively new so it doesn't get much attention but the chances of Harry finding someone from that place must be astronomical".

The pink haired Auror slumped forward and took a sip of coffee. Having a muggleborn for a father meant that she had picked up on some of his drinking habits, "Those grey skinned things, do you know anything about them", she asked.

Remus shook his head, "Not too much, I know they're called Putties and they were under the command of someone called Rita Repulsa. She tried to attack this city in 93 and into 1994 but the Prophet didn't pick up on it".

"How come, seems like pretty big news to me?"

"Probably because most damage was being inflicted on muggles and happening in America. In case you haven't noticed, our society is a little xenophobic", Remus answered bitterly. "It was also about the time You-Know-Who began his rise to power so the Prophet probably didn't deem it newsworthy". He stopped for a moment and ran his hand through his greying hair, "I thought they had been eliminated because there haven't been any sightings of them in years".

"Must be my own welcoming committee", a voice called out from behind them. Harry plopped down into one of the empty seats at the table, "Places just love rolling out the red carpet for the Boy-Who-Lived".

"Merlin Harry", Tonks grasped her chest, "are you trying to give us a heart attack?"

"Now why would I inflict that on my two favourite Order members", Harry gave them a smile, "congratulations on the wedding by the way, I assume you went to Vegas?"

"Yeah my Dad gave me the idea", Tonks replied, "don't think he was being serious but you know me, never take the easy route". Harry nodded slightly in agreement, "But stop changing the subject, what the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Working on my tan mostly", Harry joked, "California has some truly exceptional beaches".

Remus rubbed his head in frustration, "Harry stop distracting us, firstly you run off without telling us and show up in America fighting putties". Remus looked at the red ranger, something was different about him. Harry was relaxed yet also on alert at the same time. He was looking in better shape than he could remember and his clothes, a white t-shirt with a red shirt over the top and a pair of shorts that actually fitted him, "You're involved in something", he leaned in closer, "possibly illegal".

"Me, breaking rules?" Harry tried to feign ignorance, "Never broken one in my life". The pair gave him a firm look, telling him to get serious, "Alright yes I'm involved in something but it's not illegal and I can handle it".

"You can tell us Harry, we can help you", Tonks pleaded.

"Yes Harry, please do tell us", everyone's blood immediately froze at the sound of that voice. Bellatrix Lestrange calmly sat herself down at the table with a drink in her hand, "Never did like California, far too hot for my taste and far too loud", she casually leaned back in her chair, "What's wrong with a nice glass of pumpkin juice next to a roaring fire".

"Guys get out of here", Harry hissed.

"We're not leaving you alone with that psychopath", Tonks fixed the woman with her finest law enforcement officer stare.

"Now is that any way to talk to your favourite Aunt", Bellatrix shook her head, "I might have to remove you off my Christmas card list". She noticed Remus and Tonks reaching for their wands, "Don't even think about it", she said with a cold voice, "or I'll kill everyone in the immediately vicinity".

"And we all know that you'll do that", Harry replied as calmly as he could. He looked around to count at least fifteen civilians. If the others were here they could teleport some of them away but that would leave the rest at the mercy of a mass murderer.

The dark witch smirked at the red ranger, "Remind me to visit Sirius' grave at some point, I really should pay my respects". Almost immediately Remus and Tonks were on their feet looking for a fight but to her surprise, Harry just glared hatefully at her, "I see someone has learned to control their temper, shame it came two years too late for your godfather".

"Let's cut the foreplay Lestrange", Harry stood up slowly, "I'm the one that your boss wants. I'll come along quietly if you let everyone here go".

"Harry, no", Remus exclaimed but Harry turned around and gave him a wink.

Bellatrix looked at him curiously, "This is too easy", she thought about it for a few moments, "then again I haven't warmed up yet, don't want to pull a muscle". She grabbed Harry roughly by the arm and began to drag him away, much to the alarm of some of the cafes patrons, "Shame, I was looking forward to summoning our new partner to take care of you and your Ranger friends". Harry's eyes widened slightly, "Oh yes I know you're the red ranger", she hissed in his ear.

"I guess I couldn't keep my secret away from your boss forever", Harry sighed.

"No one can hide anything from the Dark Lord", she looked back at the cafe, "you're so naive Potter, did you really think I'd let everyone go".

Harry smirked, "Did you really think I'd come along quietly?" Before Bellatrix could react, Harry grabbed her hand and immediately she felt some excruciating pain. She pulled back her hand and it was blistered from a heat based attack. Harry then flicked his wrist and a small ball of fire flew at an empty building next door to the cafe. All the windows blew out from the force of the blast, scattering the civilians in the nearby area.

Bellatrix screamed mostly from the pain in her hand but also for the failure of her plan, "Curse you Potter", she spat, "Lokar will punish you and the rest of your multi-coloured rejects". She shrieked and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Almost immediately Harry had his morpher out and was searching for other sources of magic in the area. He was still only picked up Remus and Tonks though, "Damn I forgot about them", he looked back towards the cafe and saw their stunned expression. Pushing that aside for a moment, he called up his team, "We've got a situation, meet me at the old Power Chamber as soon as possible".

The moment he ended the call, the Lupin's were approaching him, "Harry did you just use magic in front of muggles?" Remus stated.

"Sort of", Harry shrugged.

"You threw a ball of fire without a wand and that's all you can say", Tonks began, "if we were in the UK I'd have to arrest you, chosen one or not".

"Look there's something much bigger happening then blowing up some windows in front of muggles", Harry said exasperated, "I promise I'll explain everything to you and the rest of the Order but you need to leave the city". The red ranger didn't wait for the response and immediately activated the teleport function on his morpher, disappearing in a flash of red light.

"Well that went well", Tonks sighed, "are we going to listen to him?"

"We'll keep our distance", Remus began, "but if Bellatrix is in the area then we need to be prepared to fight".

"What about the rest of the Order?" Tonks asked.

"International Portkeys are heavily restricted now", her husband replied, "and apparating the distance isn't really an option. We're only here because we took an airplane". He paused for a moment before adding, "Whatever the situation is, Harry seems to be in control so for now we observe. Perhaps we can get to the bottom of his strange behaviour".

Tonks nodded slowly and they walked away from the remains of the cafe. Something strange was going on with Harry, he was much more focused and controlled than they remembered. On top of that he had managed to wordless and wandlessly conjure a ball of fire and throw it several meters without breaking sweat. Hopefully Harry knew what he was doing, otherwise all hope for stopping Voldemort would be gone.


	24. White Spirit

_Chapter 24 – White Spirit_

The adrenaline was still flowing through Harry's veins when he landed safely amongst the dusty old ruins. It didn't take long for everyone else to heed his call and soon there was barely any stood to stand, "You're call sounded urgent", Jason asked his fellow red ranger, "what's going on?"

"We've got big trouble", he replied, "Bellatrix Lestrange is here in Angel Grove".

"That psychopathic witch you told us about?" Trini replied.

Harry nodded, "That's the one and she comes fully powered by Voldemort's Dark Chi energy". He paused and ran his hand through his messy hair, "I think she's partially behind the Putties attack, she also mentioned something about a partner. Does the name Lokar mean anything to you". The Mighty Morphin' Rangers gasped at the name, "I'll take that as a yes".

"Lokar was an entity that Rita called on to give her extra power", Billy began, "the first time we met him, he immobilised our zords and sent us to the Island of Despair".

"Sounds a pleasant place to visit", Cho snorted.

"Depends if you want to scared witless by your worst nightmares", Zack shrugged.

Ron leaned back on a console and rolled his eyes, "You've never met a boggart then".

"Anyway", Billy interrupted the conversation, "the other time we met Lokar he nearly destroyed our zords. Suffice to say he's bad news".

"That would be an understatement", Tommy began, "Lokar is the embodiment of everything that's evil. Even Zordon didn't know how much power he wields".

"So essentially he's the God of Evil", Hermione sighed, "and I thought Voldemort was bad news".

"I don't think he has the power of a God Hermione", Tommy answered, "he's capable of suffering injuries".

"Yeah that's right, the Ultrazord gave him a nasty scar on his face", Zack said, pulling out his cell phone He brought up an image of a floating head in the sky. His skin was blue and his hair shot up in all directions like he had been struck with lightning. The face was marked with several ugly red scars, "Man I never wanted to see that face again", he shuddered.

"So what's the plan then", Dean began, "do we have any way of finding this Lokar guy?"

"I don't think we'll have too long to wait", Harry replied, "I might have annoyed Bellatrix when I foiled her plan to kidnap me".

Ginny sighed at her boyfriend, "What did you do?" the exasperation was clear in her voice.

The red ranger glanced at the ground, "I might've blown the windows out of an abandoned building", everyone groaned, "in my defence she did threaten to kill everyone in the area".

The sound of sirens suddenly filled the room and the Mystic Squadron quickly covered their ears, "I prefer our more subtle alert", Ron groaned.

"The warning alarm is one thing we managed to get working again", Jason began, "along with this".

Across the room a large crystal ball spluttered into life, the image was grainy but there was no mistaking what the Rangers saw, "Not just Putties", Kim pointed at the globe, "I recognise some of those monsters like Spit Flower".

"Madam Woe", Billy groaned.

"And how could we forget Pudgy Pig", Trini shook her head. There were more monsters but there were obscured by the Putties.

"I think it's time to get back to action", Jason said to his team.

"We're coming too", Cho added, "you're going to need all the help you can get".

Jason nodded in appreciation at the offer, "Are you two alright to sit this one out?" he asked Tommy and Ginny, "always good to keep something in reserve".

The pair nodded, "You can count on us", the teenage witch replied, "plus we've got a few things to keep us occupied".

"Great, now I haven't said this for a while", Jason began and reached behind his back, "It's Morphin' Time".

"Mastodon"

"Pterodactyl"

"Triceratops"

"Sabre Toothed Tiger"

"Tyrannosaurus"

"Our turn", Harry said to his team, "Mystic Squadron, Transform". In a flash of light the ten rangers morphed and were instantly teleported to the park.

Almost the second the other teleported away, Tommy leapt into action, "I've been digging around the archives ever since your team became active", he began, "I've always suspected Zordon might know something important which is when I found this". The writing didn't mean much to Ginny but the image of a white tiger was unmistakable, "It wasn't widely recorded in history but there were actually six elemental abilities during the war with the Gormal". He paused for a moment before continuing, "The legendary white tiger controlled sonic waves and could reduce stone buildings to rubble with the power of his roar".

"Like your old powers?" Ginny asked, "how come Dumbledore didn't tell us about this?"

"I suspect he didn't know", Tommy replied, "Zordon's research into the Gormal Wars was well protected, I suspect only Rita, Zedd and himself truly knew what happened back then". He paused for a moment before continuing, "In the final days of the war, the Gormal had become so powerful that to restore balance, a new power was created by power of Light Chi. Before that power could be claimed the war ended and the Gormal were sealed away. Very few people were aware of the powers of the white ranger, not even the original rangers knew about it".

"This is great", Ginny replied, "do you know where to find this power?"

Tommy nodded, "The power can only be claimed by someone worthy and to do that, you must pull this sword out of its stone tomb". The viewing globe changed to show a white bladed sword with the head of a tiger on its handle, "When I was the white ranger, Zordon created something similar which he named Saba. I suspect he modelled it the original which was locked away after the Wars".

"Cliché much", Ginny snorted.

"The sword is housed in a cave in the north of the state", Tommy continued, "don't ask me how it got to America from China, that information wasn't included in the ancient scriptures. The text also warned that all Chi users are sensitive to Light Chi so it's highly likely that Bellatrix is aware of its presence".

"We can't let that happening, ready to show some Gryffindor spirit and get this sword", Ginny smiled. Tommy nodded but he was also slightly apprehensive, would the lost Chi Power recognise him as the previous owner of the white tiger. He really didn't want to become an active Ranger again, Kim would kill him. The pair teleported away in a flash of light to the forgotten cave.

Over at the battle site, the ten Rangers were struggling against the sheer number of enemies, "Damn these things keep coming", Zack groaned whilst swinging his Power Axe through another couple of Putties.

"What's the matter, a little out of shape old man", Dean smiled under his helmet. He planted his Star Rod in the ground and jumped into the air. He spun around the Rod, kicking several Putties in the head in the process.

"Hey not so much of the old", Kim exclaimed. She had her Power Bow in hand and was facing off against the Spit Flower, "Care for round two", she taunted the monster.

"I won't be defeated again", the monster roared and charged towards the original pink ranger. Kim blocked the attack with her bow and countered by raking the end of the weapon across its green body. She flipped backwards and loaded an arrow into her Bow and fired. Spit Flower spat out a small seed and it incepted the energy bolt, "Oh yeah, forgot it could do that", Kim groaned.

"Need a hand", Cho asked just as Spit Flower fired some more seeds at the pink ranger's. Cho whipped up a small tornado that deflected them back from whence they came, "Hit it now Kim".

The original pink obliged and unleashed a volley of arrows at the monster. Spit Flower recoiled in pain and fell to the ground, exploding in defeat.

"Come on stay still", Ron groaned as he struggled to land a hit on Madame Woe with his Star Rod. One of his swings completely missed and he nearly lost his balance, fortunately Billy grabbed his shoulder to stop him from tumbling over.

"Maybe it's time we worked together as a team and use some close combat", the original blue ranger suggested and separated his Power Lance into two separate parts.

Ron paused for a moment before breaking his Rod in half to form a pair of nunchucks, "Let's see how she handles this". The two blue rangers immediately went on the attack, Ron used the greater range of his nuncucks to force Madame Woe into retreating. This enabled him to force her in Billy's direction where he slashed the monster across the chest. Madame Woe was wobbling and Ron sensed this was the perfect moment to land the finishing blow, "Gravitas", he called.

Madame Woe choked, she felt like she was getting crushed in a vice, "What magic is this?"

"Sorry trade secret", Billy placed his Power Lance back together and smashed the gem on her head. With a powerful slash through her chest, the monster crumpled to the ground, defeated once again.

On the other side of the park, the yellow rangers were battling against a dark green bodied monster in the shape of a praying mantis. The literally named Mantis had sharp bladed claws that crashed down across Trini's suit sending sparks flying high into the air, "Still haven't mastered the mantis style have you yellow ranger?" the monster taunted.

"Why don't try this yellow ranger for size", Hermione called out with her Star Blaster in hand. Mantis moved quickly but the yellow mystic was more than a match for him. She poured a little bit of Chi power into the air so to her, it looked like Mantis was moving slowly. She fired off shot after shot and every single time she hit the mark.

"Nice shooting", Trini coughed and stood gingerly next to her successor, "what are you like with these?" Trini handed her one of her Power Daggers.

"Never tried throwing one before", Hermione shrugged, "but I guess the principle's the same". Mantis was staggering across the park, giving the yellow ranger's time to charge up their weapons. They threw the Daggers at the same time and they crashed into Mantis. The monster roared in pain before flopping face first on to the ground. He exploded on contact with the dirt and the two yellow rangers celebrated together.

The red ranger's had drawn the short straw and had to battle their way through all the Putties. Harry and Jason hadn't counted but there must've been close to a hundred. Jason had his Power Sword in hand and ruthlessly cut through the clay creatures. He blocked an attack from one Putty with his left arm and countered by stabbing it through the chest. Spinning around quickly, he sliced through the abdomen of another couple without breaking a sweat, "How are you doing over there rookie?" he called over to Harry.

"Not bad", Harry replied, "but I think it's time to take it to the next level". He broke his Star Rod into two parts and in a flash of light he now had two swords in his hand. With double the cutting power, his arms were a whirlwind as he cut through several Putties in quick succession, "Not bad for a rookie huh", he smiled underneath his helmet. Harry dropped back slightly until he was standing next to his fellow red ranger, "I do see one problem though".

"That there doesn't seem to be an end to these damn Putties", Jason asked, "yeah I know what you mean".

Suddenly the Putties in front of them disintegrated for no obvious reason. Another couple of Putties fell apart and this time the red rangers felt a pulse hit their chests, like a heavy bass beat from a speaker, "What the hell is that?"

Jason looked up into a nearby tree and gasped, standing on a branch was a white suited ranger. The ranger had golden bands around the top of their boots and gloves. A heavy golden belt sat around their waist with a couple of thinner bands around their biceps. Across their chest was a piece of black armour with the golden tiger motif. The armour extended to a golden pair of shoulder pads. The helmet had golden marking to give the appearance of a tiger's face, "Up there", he pointed the tree out to Harry.

The white ranger jumped out the tree and landed gracefully on the grass, sending out a sonic wave that disintegrated any Putties in the vicinity. The red ranger's looked at each other, the white ranger had announced their presence in style.


	25. Eye of the Tiger

_Chapter 25 – The Eye Of The Tiger_

 ** _Previously -_** _Jason looked up into a nearby tree and gasped, standing on a branch was a white suited ranger. The ranger had golden bands around the top of their boots and gloves. A heavy golden belt sat around their waist with a couple of thinner bands around their biceps. Across their chest was a piece of black armour with the golden tiger motif. The armour extended to a golden pair of shoulder pads. The helmet had golden marking to give the appearance of a tiger's face, "Up there", he pointed the tree out to Harry._

 _The white ranger jumped out the tree and landed gracefully on the grass, sending out a sonic wave that disintegrated any Putties in the vicinity. The red ranger's looked at each other, the white ranger had announced their presence in style._

Quick as a flash, the white ranger pulled a short bladed weapon out from their hip. The handle of the weapon was shaped like a white tiger, "Take this you foul creatures", the sword bellowed in a crisp British accent.

"Saba?" Jason asked in confusion, "is that you?" The tiger's head didn't reply, instead it fired beams out of its eyes, instantly disabling a couple more Putties. The white ranger twirled the blade in their hands and sliced through another couple of the clay monster's with ease.

"Hey", Hermione said from behind the red ranger's, "we were going to give you a hand but it doesn't look like you need it".

"Where did they come from?" Trini asked.

"No idea", Harry replied, "but they're better than we were when we first started". The rangers watched on as the newcomer planted their sword into the ground. The earth underneath the Putties began to rumble as the sonic waves turned them back into clay from the feet up.

"Cool suit", Dean approached the gathering crowd from the rear, "they'll have a hell of job keeping it clean though".

The white ranger dispatched the last of the Putties and paused for breath. They turned around and suddenly realised they had an audience. They nervously began to back away before teleporting in a flash of white light, "Hey come back", Ron called out, "quick let's follow them".

"To where?" Kim stated, "we have no idea who that was or where they went".

"The old Power Chamber", Jason began, "I bet you that's where they've gone". Without a better suggestion, the rangers quickly teleported back to the Command Centre. Perhaps Tommy or Ginny would have some ideas about the identity of the new ranger.

The second the ranger's feet touched the ground, they instantly demorphed, "Hey guys do you...", Jason's voice trailed off as standing underneath the remains of Zordon's energy tube was the white ranger. All of them tried to get a better look at ranger but something was preventing them from getting a good look at the body shape.

"Erm hi", Harry said nervously, "I'm Harry Potter".

"Yes I know who you are", the sword replied from the right hand of the white ranger.

The red mystic threw his hands up, "Great, even the weird talking sword knows who I am".

"I do have a name you know", the sword rolled its tiny eyes, "my name is Saba and I'm pleased to meet you".

The veteran Rangers looked amongst themselves, they all knew that name. The Mystic Squadron though were oblivious, "Alright Saba", Cho began, "could you explain where you came from because I thought there were only five Light Chi powers".

"I'm afraid that information is incorrect", Saba replied, "you must be the Wind Chi user, I sense the stormy air circulating around you".

"Can you answer the question", Dean snapped.

"Well you're not as laid back as you seem, but which one is the illusion", Saba said cryptically. "I came into existence in the dying days of the Gormal Wars. The power of the light created me for a potential sixth member of the squadron to counteract the growing darkness. Fortunately the legendary warriors sealed the Gormal away and to stop my power from falling into the wrong hands, I was transported to a safe location. Now with the Gormal rising again, the time is right for me to bestow my power on a worthy warrior".

"Yeah but who found you?" Ron asked.

Saba sighed, "Ah now that is an entertaining story".

 _Flashback – Northern California_

Ginny and Tommy landed safely and instantly they were hit by a strong gust of wind, "Wow that doesn't feel natural", the original green ranger commented. His companion looked around and quickly found the mouth of the cave that Zordon wrote about`. They lowered their heads and struggled against the wind. Slowly but surely they crept towards the cave. As soon as they crossed the threshold, the wind ceased, "Ok getting a little strange now".

The pair looked around the cave, there was nothing particularly special about it. Certainly nothing that suggested that the lost powers of the white ranger resided inside. Out the corner of her eye, Ginny spotted something heading their way, "Duck!", she shouted and pulled Tommy to the ground. Seconds later a fireball flew over their heads and slammed into the wall behind them.

"Good reflexes", Tommy gasped for air.

"Quidditch is good for something", she smiled and they slowly rose back up, "that's two", she muttered.

"Two what?" Tommy frowned.

"Two of the ranger's Chi Powers", she replied, "the strong wind was Cho's and the fire is Harry's. I bet we're going to come up against the others at some point.

"So time, gravity and illusions", Tommy listed them off, "guess there's only one way to find out. The pair followed the narrow path until they came to a break in the road. They could see a door ahead but in front of them was a wide chasm. They looked down but they couldn't see the bottom, "Bottomless pit, very Indiana Jones", Tommy laughed.

"That adventurer guy whose film you made us watch last week?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah him", Tommy looked around and found some loose dirt, "now if this is like the film". He threw the dirt into the chasm but nothing happened, it just disappeared down the gap, "Guess this isn't the illusion test then", he sighed.

There was a sudden rumble and a stone path appeared in front of them. It crossed the chasm and linked up with the door at the other end, "This must be our lucky day", Ginny smiled and they began to walk across.

They were about half way across when they felt the path begin to shake. Tommy looked behind him and noticed the path was crumbling away, "Run", he shouted at the teen and they sprinted as quickly as they could. Tommy used his longer legs and got there first but the path was catching up with Ginny. She was nearly at the end when the ground underneath her began to give way. In desperation she jumped for the ledge just as the last of the rock disappeared. Tommy watched helplessly as she reached for the ledge but disappeared into the darkness, "No!" he cried out and tried to grab her hand.

"Tommy I'm alright", Ginny gasped, she had somehow grabbed the ledge and was hanging on with the tips of her fingers, "but I could do with a hand". The former green ranger reached down and grabbed her arm. He hauled the teen up on to the ledge and the pair took a few deep breathes, "I think that was the time part of the trails", the teen wheezed.

"So that just leaves the final two", Tommy stated, "can you stand?" Ginny nodded and slowly got to her feet. The pair nervously walked through the door and the second they did, they were rocketed into the air, "This must be gravity", he screamed.

"You think", Ginny shouted and tried to see their destination. There was a small opening in the roof coming up fast, she could tell by the light flooding through, "we need to head for that hole".

"What happens if we don't?" Tommy asked.

Ginny couldn't tell for sure but based on the other trials, they would probably hit the ceiling very hard, "Probably best you don't know". She pretended she was on a broom and adjusted her body weight accordingly. As the pair got closer to the gap, they realised it wasn't very big and they would probably have to go through one at time. Tommy opened his legs slightly to slow himself down, allowing Ginny to fly through first.

She burst into the light and found herself getting pulled gently back to the ground. Tommy shot through a moment later and they landed on a solid granite floor. The room was decorated with several tiger motifs and in the center was a large boulder. Buried up to the hilt was the sword, "This seems too easy", Tommy said, "maybe this is the illusion".

Looking around the room, Ginny couldn't see anything unusual. She scanned again and spotted a shadow moving towards them. The image began to shift until it resembled a handsome looking teenage boy with dark hair. He was wearing a Hogwarts uniform with a Slytherin badge. Ginny blanched at the sight, "Tom", she gasped, "Tom Riddle".

Tom Riddle smiled, "Dear Ginny, you didn't think you could get rid of me that easily".

Tommy saw his student struggling with her fears and was about to jump in when he heard a familiar cackling voice, "Ah my Green Ranger has returned to me. He slowly turned around and laid eyes on a woman in a brown dress with white hair styled into cone shapes.

"Rita", Tommy hissed.

"That's Empress Rita to you", she smirked.

The pair began to slowly retreat as their worst memories were being played out in front of them, "Give in to the darkness Ginevra", Tom stated, "I know what lurks inside your heart".

"Yeah what he said Tommy", Rita added.

Ginny blinked a couple of times and shook her head, "I'm not afraid of you any more Tom", she said with a firm voice.

"Then why are you backing away like a frightened child", he taunted.

She stopped and took up a fighting stance, "To catch you unawares", she smiled. She crossed the gap quickly and unleashed a devastating spin kick that shattered Tom Riddle's body. Following her example, Tommy leapt into the air and the image of Rita dissolved, "That wasn't fun", Ginny shook her head.

Tommy glared at the spot where Rita had been, "Who was the guy?"

"The teenaged spirit of Lord Voldemort who possessed me and forced me to unleash a giant snake on my friends", she said with a hesitant voice, "the woman?"

"Rita Repulsa", Tommy replied.

"That was Rita", Ginny stated, remember her visit with the Mystic Mother, "she's certainly aged well". The joke was enough to break the tension and the pair soon broke down in a fit of laughter, "Come on, let's try this sword", she added.

The pair approached the stone and stared for a moment with their arms folded, "You should take it", Tommy said, "this is your world you're fighting for".

"Our world", Ginny replied, "Voldemort's not going to stop at the Wizarding World", she paused for a moment, "you take it, you've been a ranger before".

"Too many times, I don't think Kim would approve ", Tommy snorted.

"Here's a novel idea", a new voice said. They both turned around and came face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange, "How about I take the sword".

The pair stood in front of the stone defensively, "You're not taking this", Ginny said defiantly and pulled out her wand.

The dark witch scoffed, "Please, like a muggle and a blood traitor can beat someone like me". Ginny didn't need a second invitation and fired a powerful blasting curse at the woman. To her shock, Bellatrix took it directly in the chest and didn't move a muscle, "That actually tickled", she laughed. Thrusting out her hands, a wave of dark energy threw the pair away from the stone. They crashed into the wall and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

Bellatrix slowly approached the boulder and threw a sickly yellow energy bolt at it. The energy began to dissolve some of the rock around the sword but the dark witch was in for a surprise, "You are not worthy of my power", the sword spoke.

"It even sounds like Saba", Tommy gasped. The sword shot a bolt of lightning out of its eyes, throwing Bellatrix across the floor.

"Quickly, release me from here", the sword stated.

Ginny and Tommy began to crawl towards the sword and were about to grab it, "That's my sword", Bellatrix shouted and shot a black energy bolt at the pair. There was a massive flash of black and white that temporarily blinded everyone in the area. When the light cleared, the dark witch couldn't believe what she saw, there was another ranger standing in front of her.

 _Present – Old Power CHamber_

"And that's my story", Saba finished.

"But that still doesn't tell us who the white ranger is", Harry said with an exasperated tone.

"No need", Kim began and approached the white ranger, "I can tell by the way they hold themselves". When she reached the white ranger, she smacked them hard around the back of the helmet, "Tommy Oliver you are sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life", she added, poking them hard in the chest.

There was some sniggering behind her, "Erm Kim", Trini called out.

The original pink ranger turned around and saw Tommy standing in the circle with an ice pack against his head, "Something you want to tell me Kim", he asked.

"Wow I felt that through the helmet", the white ranger spoke for the first time. They demorphed to reveal Ginny, "for someone so small you really back a punch". Kim immediately backed away in embarrassment just in time for the red haired girl to get mobbed by the other Mystic Squadron.

"I'm not going to live that down am I", a red faced Kim said.

"Just be glad that we can only tell that story amongst ourselves", Zack whispered.

"Ginny this is amazing", Harry hugged his girlfriend, "now you're finally one of us".

The new white ranger looked down at the morpher on her wrist. The wrist band was black and the main body of the morpher was black with golden accents, similar to her helmet. In the centre was the same tiger emblem that adorned her chest armour, "Thanks guys", she began, "but I was lucky that I can crawl faster than Tommy otherwise the power would be his".

"Don't worry about it Ginny", Tommy replied, "I've had enough powers to last a lifetime".

"Which is why the power has decided to grant you a reward", Saba began, "you too were worthy of my power but I have a consolation prize for you". Tommy began to feel warm and his Power Morpher began to glow. When the light faded it was a slightly different design to the others, in his hand were a number of coins that corresponded to his previous power, "This is a Master Morpher, it will let you morph between your different Ranger forms without the need to carry multiple morphers".

Tommy looked down at his old morpher, getting a strong hug from Kim in the process, "Why does Tommy get all the cool new toys", Zack grumbled under his breath.

"I think the most important thing is that we've gain ourselves another member", Ron added, "and we couldn't have anyone better on our side".

"Careful Ron, you'll give big brother's everywhere a bad reputation", his younger sister smiled. With the Mystic Squadron and the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger up to full strength, Lokar and Bellatrix would have to watch their backs.


	26. Shaky Debut

_Chapter 26 – Shaky Debut_

Not for the first time in the last 24 hours, Bellatrix cursed the name of the Mystic Squadron. Not only had the Weasley girl gained the powers of the white ranger but her failure had seen her stock fall in the eyes of her Lord. Under the pretence of helping her with the search, Dolohov had been sent to Angel Grove as well. The dark witch didn't mind the powerfully built man, in fact he was one of the few Death Eaters that she consider to be near her level. What really bothered her was the fact that Voldemort had lost faith in her to follow orders. She was sure that she would suffer for some time under some of the Dark Lord's new torture spells.

It wasn't just the loss of the white tiger power that was grating on Bellatrix, the alliance with Lokar was slowly disintegrating. He had supplied monsters and Putty Patrollers but he clearly wasn't counting on the appearance of the veteran Rangers. All the monsters had been destroyed, infuriating the Hell demon. Bellatrix knew power when she felt it and even with her Chi, Lokar could probably smite any of them without breaking sweat.

As soon as the sun was up, the pair resumed their search for the base of the Power Rangers. Their search had led them to a desert on the outskirts of the city but so far, they had come up empty handed. They took a quick break on the edge of a cliff looking down into a small dusty valley. It was then that Dolohov spotted something. The dark witch took a closer look, it was that talking sword from the cave. She was about to jump down when Dolohov stopped her, "Wait, this must be a trap", he said.

"Of course it's a trap", she snapped back, "the Weasley bint wouldn't misplace her sword after just a day", she fixed the man with a freezing glare, "don't you believe that the powers our Lord gave us can defeat those costumed blood traitors". Bellatrix smiled when her companion looked away, it was a low blow mentioning the Dark Lord but it had the desired effect.

The pair dissolved into a cloud of black smoke and quickly reappeared near the sword. It was lying on its side on a flat piece of rock. Dolohov reached out to grab it but his hand went straight through, "What kind of magic is this?" he bellowed as the sword and rock slowly shimmered away.

"A little bit of an illusion courtesy of me", they both recognised the voice of the green ranger instantly. The Mystic Squadron slowly appeared opposite them, all with their morphers ready, "You were right Gin, they're not the sharpest tools in the box".

Bellatrix snarled and glared at the new white ranger, "I see you somehow managed to afford a new outfit", she commented on Ginny's new white top, "it just makes you look even more pasty".

"And those corsets make you look like a hooker", Ginny replied sweetly.

The dark witch was furious and literally shook with rage. The rangers looked on as her skin slowly began to change colour until it was metallic silver. At the same time a long blade began to emerge from the end of her right arm, "That's possibly the grossest thing I've ever seen", Cho gagged on every word". Dolohov's body began to undergo the same changes except instead of a sword, his hands changed into sharp claws.

"I think we know where this is leading", Harry looked over at the white ranger, "ready to go Gin?" she smiled and flashed her Tiger Morpher, "Mystic Squadron, Transform".

Ginny began her morphing sequence by crouching low with her left arm pointed towards the ground and thrusting her right hand forward, "White Ranger, "she called and stood up, extending her arms out to the side. She then brought her left arm across her chest and used her right hand to touch the tiger motif on the center of her morpher, "Tiger Power", she added.

The rangers immediately summoned their weapons and picked their opponents, the boys against Dolohov and the girls against Bellatrix. Dolohov was an extremely powerful fighter and the transformation had only added to his strength. He jumped into the air and punched the ground, sending out a shock wave that almost took the boys off their feet, "Oh no you don't", Dean called his Lion Staff and wedged it into the ground. After regaining his balance, he charged in against the General. Despite his size Dolohov was extremely quick and easily deflected most of the green ranger's attacks. Dean was able to catch him with a glancing blow across the chin but his staff just bounced off.

"Is his chin made of metal of something?" Harry leapt in with his swords and sliced Dolohov across the chest. The Death Eater roared in pain and countered with a strong blow to Harry's chest. The red ranger tumbled backwards but somehow maintained his balance.

"Maybe we should make him a little heavier", Ron thrust his hand towards Dolohov and the man was pinned in place with strong gravitational field, "that should hold him", he said proudly.

"Erm, think again mate", Dean commented as Dolohov slowly began to move his feet. He didn't need to move quickly to power up a spell though and his hand began to glow purple. Moments later he threw a bolt of light at the trio, knocking them instantly to the ground.

Pain began to rip through their bodies and Harry found it comparable to the Cruciatus curse, "Pitiful", was Dolohov simple response and he slowly walked away.

Over with the girls Bellatrix was duelling Cho, who had called on her Phoenix Spear. Almost in unison the pair twirled around each other, their weapons periodically clashing. As the duel wore on, it became clear that Bellatrix's blows had more power behind them and it was slowly wearing the pink ranger down. One backhanded swing later, the dark witch slashed Cho across the chest, sending her tumbling away.

"Try this on for size", Hermione had her Griffin Whip in hand and latched onto the end of Bellatrix's sword. She tried to pull it out of her grasp but it refused to budge. It was only then that she realised that the sword was fused to her body, almost like a metal bone had burst out of her skin. There was a mechanical chuckle from Bellatrix and she twirled her arm quickly, forcing the whip out of the yellow ranger's hand.

Before she could attack, Ginny jumped in and slashed the dark witch across the back with Saba. Bellatrix turned around and swung her own blade which Ginny was just able to intercept, "That sword belongs to my master", she bellowed.

"I belong to the white ranger, woman", Saba bellowed and fired a beam from his eyes, striking her in the chest.

Bellatrix stumbled backward but she wasn't going to give in that easily. With her free hand, she summoned a sickly yellow ball of energy and threw it towards the girls. The white ranger sliced through the ball but the backlash was enough to throw the girls across the ground and into their fallen team mates. "So this is the mighty Mystic Squadron", Bellatrix chuckled, "I fail to see what all the fuss is about".

Dolohov moved to a position beside her and prepared to fire a killing blow. They weren't expecting six beams of light to land in front of the rangers though. "Surprise", Jason smiled underneath his helmet and immediately fired the Power Blaster. Tommy blew into his Dragon Dagger and beam of green light intermingled with Power Blaster's attack. The blast struck the stunned Generals and hurled the across the valley. They smashed into the ground and lay motionless, smoke pouring off their bodies.

"Are you guys alright?" Tommy asked and helped Ginny to her feet.

"Yeah", the white ranger wheezed, "some first battle that turned out to be".

"We underestimated them", Harry groaned as Jason held him upright, "and we got overpowered".

"It happens sometimes", Trini tried to reassure the latest team.

"Yeah even we got our asses handed to us a few times", Zack added.

"That'll be reassuring once my ears stop ringing", Ron shook his head, trying to clear a few cobwebs.

On the over side of the valley, Bellatrix and Dolohov slowly got to their feet. Their skin had returned to normal and their weapons had disappeared, "You won't win this time Rangers", the woman snarled, "Oh great Lokar, I beseech you", she called out.

The sky began to darken as lightning began to rain down on the valley. The rangers managed to dodge the deadly bolts and they soon found the source of the attack, "Guys that's Lokar", Kim pointed to the sky.

Jason moved towards the front, "All of our zords were destroyed", he began, "we're going to have to leave this to you", he added in the direction of the Mystic Squadron

"Not all of them", Tommy brought his Dagger up to his helmet and played a tune, "it's been a while but he should still hear my call", he played the same tune again.

"Erm I don't see anything", Harry commented but moments later, ten missiles streaked through the sky and slammed into Lokar, drawing a cry of pain from the creature. The red ranger looked around and saw a green and silver dragon stomping towards the battle, "Ok so the missile thing is kinda cool", he reluctantly agreed. "I think it's our turn to join in the fun", he added to his team.

"Wait, let us try something first", Saba began, "white ranger, summon the White Tigerzord to assist you".

"Alright, I'll give it a try", Ginny thrust her hand towards the sky, "White Tigerzord, Power Up". The alley echoed to the roar of a big cat and a white and black mechanical tiger began to bound towards them. As the zord passed Ginny jumped on board, finding a flat console in front of her. There was a slot which was the perfect size for Saba so she slotted the sword inside, "Alright let's see what this thing can do", the white ranger said.

Moving with tremendous speed, the White Tigerzord ran across the sand and jumped into the air, headbutting Lokar. The zord though stumbled on landing and rolled onto its back, "I'm not going to live this down", Ginny sighed.

"You can redeem yourself", Saba began, "call on Warrior Mode, that should distract Lokar for long enough".

Ginny nodded and said, "White Tigerzord, convert to Warrior Mode". The Tigerzord began to stand on its hind legs until it was completely upright. The tiger's head flipped down and became its chest, revealing a human head in the process. Ginny reached behind her and grabbed a clear orb off the shelf, "This should slow you down Lokar", she began, "White Tiger Thunderbolt", she slammed the orb into an opening in the console. The tigers head began to gather energy and fired a bolt directly at the face hovering in the sky. It hit its target, eliciting a cry of pain from Lokar, "Tommy care for a double team", the white ranger called out to green ranger.

"Thought you'd never ask", Tommy played a tune and the Dragonzord's tail slashed across Lokar's face, "Lokar is weakened but he's still powerful", he turned to Dean, Hermione, Cho and Ron, "the Tigerzord used to be able to combine with the equivalent of your zords", he began, "I wonder if that's still true".

"Only one way to find out", Cho replied as she and the others called on their zords. The Griffin and Pegasus Zords became legs for the slowly changing Tigerzord. The Lion Zord twisted and sat on the shoulders of the Tigerzord whilst the Phoenix Zord sat on the right arm like a giant projectile weapon.

The four Rangers quickly found themselves in an enlarged cockpit with Ginny, "Nice of you to join me", the white ranger began, "lets end Lokar for good". The five Rangers powerful up their Chi orbs and seconds later the Phoenix Zord was fired towards the evil spirit. The Hell demon couldn't take anymore and his face exploded in a violent light show. The sky began to lighten as Lokar's spell was lifted, "Alright that's my girlfriend", Harry called out as the Mega Tigerzord stood side by side with the Dragonzord.

Up on the ridge Bellatrix and Dolohov couldn't believe what they had seen. The white ranger had her own zord and the combined efforts of the two teams had destroyed Lokar for good. Voldemort alliance with the demon from Hell had evaporated, "We should report this to the Dark Lord", Dolohov said grimly.

Bellatrix sighed, "We should but I'm not in a great rush", she looked down at the celebrating rangers below and gave them a hateful glare. They might have destroyed Lokar but the Mystic Squadron had come out second best in a fight against them. At they would have some good news to report to the Dark Lord. She hoped it would be enough to save them from the worst of his wrath.


	27. Sprialing Downwards

_Chapter 27 – Spiraling Downwards_

Today was the day that Harry had been dreading ever since arriving in America. Today he and the other Mystic Squadron were returning back to England. With Bill and Fleur's wedding fast approaching along with his own seventeenth birthday, the time was right to head back home. With Lokar destroyed, Bellatrix and Dolohov hadn't been seen in the area and had clearly returned home to explain their failure to Voldemort.

After the defeat of Lokar the teens had decided to stay in Angel Grove a little longer. Tommy and Kim offered them whatever available space in their home they could sleep on. The offer of additional training from some Ranger legends was too good to pass up. The sunny California weather was also a huge incentive for the wizards more accustomed to the unpredictable British summers.

Now that the pressure was off, it had given everyone time to work on security features for the Mystic Squadron's new base of operations. Harry had offered Grimmauld Place as its natural defences against regular magic would work well with the features that Billy's daughter Keira had designed. Getting the chance to install muggle technology inside the former home of the Black's was an added irony that couldn't be passed up. Due to his familiarity with the technology, Keira would be joining them in London in a few days. Tommy and Kim would be accompanying the teens home, the multi coloured Ranger had secure an invite to Bill's wedding after helping eliminate Fenrir Greyback.

Inside his bedroom at the Oliver residence Harry was finishing packing his bag which was close to overflowing. His birthday was tomorrow, allowing him to legally use magic outside school but that didn't help him to close his bag now. The red ranger still wasn't sure how the Ministry couldn't detect his use of Chi Power but truth be told, he wasn't overly concerned. "Stupid bloody thing", Harry cursed as the zip refused to close.

"Need a hand", he heard Ginny call from the doorway. Harry turned around and the sight of his girlfriend nearly took his breath away. She was dressed in a pair of short demin shorts and a black tank top. In keeping with ranger tradition, she had found a white long sleeved cardigan that stretched down to her knees that she wore open.

"By all means", Harry smiled and stepped away from the bag, "your Mum's going to have a fit when she sees you in that outfit".

Ginny snorted, "That's part of my plan, I'm hoping that it'll distract her enough to forget about me sneaking away".

"Sneaky", the red ranger smirked, "turned out for the best though", he added.

When the white ranger didn't respond for a few moments, Harry thought that she hadn't heard him. So it surprised him when she said, "Are you happy with me as a ranger?"

Harry frowned, "Yeah why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just", she hesitated briefly, "I'm not of age so I can't use magic without the Ministry noticing. I don't want to be useless to you".

"Ginny you will never be useless to me", Harry said firmly and grasped her hands, "if these last few weeks have taught us anything it's that we don't always need magic to come out on top".

"Yeah but it helps", the white ranger pouted.

"I'll admit you might find it hard living like a muggle for the foreseeable future but you've survived so far", Harry countered, "don't worry I'll help you as much as I can".

Ginny smiled and gazed into Harry eyes for several moments. She then released his hands and snaked her arm around his neck. She pressed her body close to his and gave him a passionate kiss. Time seemed to stop as the kiss deepened, their tongues battling for control over the other, "You know I could give you your birthday present a little early", the white ranger said with a saucy tone.

Harry was about to answer when Tommy's panicked voice rang out through the apartment, "Guys I think you need to see this".

Immediately the couple ran out of the bedroom and into the main living room. The first thing they saw was Jason backing away slowly from something. The pair were ready to morph until they saw a silver Patronus in the shape of a weasel standing in the middle of the front room, "That's my Dad's" Ginny comments, "don't worry Tommy it's not going to harm you".

The original green ranger didn't look too convinced but he trusted the judgement of his young friends. Harry approached the weasel and it began to speak, _"There's been an attack, Moody and Mundungus are dead. Return to The Burrow as soon as you can, Remus and Tonks are coming to get you"._

The Patronus dissolved into mist, leaving the two teens in a confused and mournful state. Tommy left them alone with their thoughts until he finally broke the silence, "I'm sorry for your loss".

"Thanks", Harry choked out, "Moody was one of the best we had and Mundungus", he paused to try and find the best words to describe the man, "he wasn't the greatest person but he didn't deserve to die".

The trio stood silently in respect of the deceased men, just another reminder that the Mystic Squadron had to end this war as quickly as they could.

Around an hour later the two ranger teams met outside the Oliver residence. The original plan was for small celebration at the Youth Center before the Mystic Squadron teleported back home. This would give them an excuse for why Kim and Tommy were with them as they were meant to be getting an airplane, not teleporting. With Remus and Tonks coming to collect them, they would need to come up with something and fast.

Tommy managed to convince Kim to convert the garage into a small laboratory, hoping to focus his son JJ's interest in the sciences. The space was big enough for both teams to fit inside comfortably. Harry and Ron perched themselves on a couple of workbenches, they knew Moody better than anyone else in the Squadron. The grizzled Auror veteran had given both of them useful advice in the couple of years they knew the man. Ginny, Cho and Dean weren't so familiar with Moody personally but they were aware of his legend. With his death, a lot more weight had been placed on their shoulders.

"Hey where's Hermione?" Kim asked, noticing that the current yellow ranger was missing.

"I'm not sure", Billy replied, "she went inside to finish sorting her belongs out, that was around half an hour ago though".

"I'll go find her", Trini said and immediately left the others in the garage. Ever since she had met her successor, she felt a sadness rolling off her. She was trying to cover something up and Trini could sense that Hermione wasn't telling them something.

Trini found the teen sitting at the kitchen table, a small beaded bag next to her. She was playing with a simple silver necklace and staring idly into space, "Hey", Trini greeted softly, "everyone's here". Hermione tucked the necklace back inside her yellow top and was about to stand up when Trini pulled her back down, "Sit, I think you need to talk".

"About what", Hermione replied with a slightly croaky voice.

"About whatever's been bothering you ever since you arrived in the States", Trini began, " I can see you've been crying recently and don't try to deny it".

Hermione fiddled with her hands nervously, trying to find the best words to respond with. Finally she began, "I wanted to keep my parents safe", she said, "so I sent them away from Britain".

"Well that's only natural", Trini began but Hermione stopped her.

"I wiped their memories, of ever having a daughter", she sniffed, "I thought it would be safer for them to forget about me but now I'm sure so sure that was the right thing to do". Trini looked at the younger girl in sympathy and placed an arm around her shoulders, "I even magically changed their identities so I don't even who I'm looking for once this is all over".

The original yellow ranger didn't really know what to do, she had never come across a situation like this before. Hermione sobbed gently on her shoulder and she rubbed small circles on her back. After few minutes Trini sensed that the teens tears were drying up, "We'll help in any way we can", she began, "I'm not sure how but we'll help you find your parents. You just concentrate on beating Voldemort and the rest of the Gormal".

Hermione smiled appreciatively and hugged the woman in thanks, "Hermione, Trini", Harry's voice called out from the garage, "our ride's here". The current yellow ranger wiped her eyes and took a few moments to compose herself. She grabbed her bag and followed Trini out of the bedroom.

After getting a Patronus from Arthur Weasley informing them about Moody's death, The Lupin's were devastated. Moody was a good friend of Remus's and he had been Tonks first mentor at the Auror Academy. They then got a second message from the Weasley Patriarch, asking them to collect the Hogwarts students from a residential address on the outskirts of the city. They found it a little strange but about an hour later, the couple were at the home in question.

Immediately they saw the teens and to their surprise, the same six adults that had fought off the Putties a few days ago. Once again they were wondering what the relationship was between these six and the teenage wizards. Last time they were blown off by Harry but this time, they weren't leaving without answers, "Good morning everyone", Remus greeted and turned to the teens, "I assume you've heard the news".

"Yeah terrible news", Ron sighed, "we're all terribly sad to hear of Moody's death".

"I don't believe we've been introduced", Jason extended his hand to the couple, "I'm Jason Lee Scott, we lived in this city years ago and have been chaperoning your friends around. You've already met Tommy and this is Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, Billy Cranston and Kim Oliver".

"Pleasure to meet you", Tonks replied, "Harry never did tell us what you've been doing for the last few weeks".

"Spoken like a true detective Tonks", Harry whispered under his breath, he recognises subtle questioning when he heard it.

"Not much really", Zack began, "we thought it would be a nice break for the kids".

"Yeah they've been working at the Youth Center", Kim added, "oh and teaching them some martial arts".

"Yes we saw that", Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Well Angel Grove can be dangerous so we thought we'd show them a way to defend themselves", Trini said quickly but then internally winced. She didn't want to draw too much attention to the fight outside the Youth Center.

"They looked pretty advanced for beginners", Tonks frowned.

"Well were quick learners", Cho quickly jumped in, "so are we heading back now?"

Remus noticed the not so subtle attempt to shift the conversation away from their time in Angel Grove, "Yes we managed to get an earlier flight and then we're heading straight to The Burrow". He turned towards the green and pink rangers, "We can make arrangements to get you home once we're there Mr Thomas and Miss Chang".

"Oh don't worry about that, they're going to be staying with us", Ginny quickly injected.

"Really?" Tonks frowned, another question forming in her mind. Why would Ginny offer her home to hers and Harry's ex-partners, "Well it's your home I suppose".

"Kim and I will still catch our original flight", Tommy again tried to deflect the line of questioning, "assuming we're still invited to the wedding", Remus nodded in confirmation..

"Sounds like you've got this all worked out", Remus began, "we'll wait in the car and let you say your goodbyes". The couple slowly walked away from the garage and found a hiding spot just out of sight, "This mystery just keeps getting deeper", the werewolf sighed.

"We knew they were hiding something but now we know that all of them are involved in it", Tonks replied, "did you hear the way they kept deflecting our questions". The couple also knew that Tommy wasn't really a wizard so it was highly unlikely that the rest of his friends were either, "I don't like the idea of housing three muggles in a home that's already a prime target for Death Eaters".

"Neither do I but The Burrow is as well protected as it can be", he tried to reassure his wife. The teens finished their goodbyes and met up with the adults. Remus pulled out a piece of rope that everyone grabbed hold to. In a flash they were sucked away back to England by a portkey.


	28. Crashed The Wedding

_Chapter 28 – Crashed The Wedding_

The sun was setting over the white gazebo that sat in the back garden of the Weasley family home. Loud music boomed out from the structure as the wedding party for Bill and Fleur Weasley was in full swing. The Rangers homecoming wasn't as rough as they expected and Mrs Weasley welcomed Cho and Dean into The Burrow without a second thought. Harry was scolded by The Order for sneaking away without telling them but as the red ranger pointed out, they didn't do a great job at protecting him either. As predicted, Ginny got a thorough dressing down for not only running off to America with her older brother but also for her choice of attire.

The teens were able to get a little bit more background about Mad Eye Moody's death. To keep up the illusion that Harry was still at Privet Drive, the Order still maintained a presence in the area. Unfortunately for Moody and Dung, they were caught unawares by a group of Death Eaters. Dung was hit in the back by a killing curse as he tried to escape. Moody fought to the very end, even taking a few of his attackers with him. The numbers soon told for the veteran Auror and he was finally overpowered. Harry felt a little guilty for Moody, he knew full well that Voldemort was aware of exactly where the red ranger was. Perhaps if he had told The Order his secret then Moody could still be alive.

All of this made Harry's birthday a much more sombre affair. He was now allowed to use magic outside school but he found that he wasn't too bothered about that. His time in America taught him that you didn't need magic to enjoy yourself.

Once the wedding was over, the first item on the agenda was to start on the new base at Grimmauld Place. Harry had his reservations, the old Black family home wasn't that safe for wizards, let alone a muggle. Since they didn't know what traps still laid inside the building, the work would have to wait until after the wedding. The rangers planned to visit tomorrow but that meant slipping away from the eagle eyes of Mrs Weasley. The teleport function on their morphers meant that this would be easy but they didn't want anyone to worry about them so they had all come to a difficult decision. They would tell The Order about their secret identity as the Mystic Squadron.

Harry was surprised how easily everyone had agreed but with Voldemort aware of their identities, it probably wouldn't be too long until the information got out into the press anyway. Remus and Tonks were already suspicious of their behaviour plus two of the Weasley children were rangers. Their parents and other siblings deserved to know what was going on.

The teens tried to push that out of their minds and enjoy the celebration. The tent was lavishly decorated with vibrant silvers and lilacs. Mr Weasley had to swallow his pride when Fleur's parents offered to help pay for the reception. Even though the family had been saving, they never would've been able to afford all of this. Harry was currently taking a break from dancing and had released his date to dance with Tommy. Ginny had to ditch her signature colour for the wedding, she didn't dare show up in a white dress when she wasn't the bride but she had compromised with pink coloured outfit instead. A perfect mixture of their colours she told him.

"Good party", Kim sighed and sat down next to Harry, "you wizards sure know how to celebrate".

"We haven't had a reason to celebrate in the last few years", Harry stated, "and we don't really know when we'll get another chance so might as well make the most of it".

"From what you guys and Tommy have told me about the wizarding world, it makes me glad that I'm not a witch". Harry twisted his head slightly and frowned, "Don't get me wrong, it would be amazing to have magic but what's the point if everything around you is stuck in another century".

Harry tried to offer a counter argument but he simply couldn't. Unlike some he wasn't completely ignorant to the failings of the wizarding world. Muggleborns and even some half bloods would simply disappear from their society after leaving school. Discrimination had a part to play but over the last decade the major reason was the environment around them. Why would you want to make a living as a shop owner or on a low wage at the Ministry when you could get much higher paid jobs in the muggle world? Why read by candle light and use a quill when you could have electricity? "I see your point Kim and I don't disagree but there's just something so...", he struggled to find the right word to use.

"Magical?" Kim chuckled, "I'll admit it does have its charms but and this might make me sound shallow, I love the internet, television and smart phones too much to give them up".

"Things are going to change", Harry replied, "the muggle world is too different for us not to take notice. Once this is over, our generation will make sure there's real change".

"Ooh spoken like a revolutionary", Kim pushed him lightly before turning her attention back to the party. "How about you give me a crash course on some of the guests, all this political talk is sapping the life out of my party spirit".

The red ranger scanned the room, "Alright see the blonde girl that Dean and Cho are chatting to", Kim nodded, "that's Luna Lovegood. She's a student in Ginny's year, her Dad owns a magazine and they live pretty close to the Weasley's".

Kim pointed at an older woman in a tartan dress, "Who's that?"

"Professor McGonagall", Harry replied, "Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts and my old Head of House". He scanned the room again and found a gaggle of girls around a powerfully built man, "Over there is Victor Krum, he's an international Quidditch star. Having him here is the equivalent of having LeBron James or Tom Brady at your party".

"Wow and you're friends with him", Harry nodded, "remind me to get his autograph later". Kim continued to look around until she saw a rather glum looking Ron on the other side of the room, "What eating at him", the original pink Ranger pointed at the red head.

"Jealousy, Hermione and Viktor had a thing a couple of years ago", Harry shook his head, "quite why they can't admit they like each other is beyond me".

"Then that can be our mission for the evening, getting Hermione and Ron together", she grabbed his arm and pulled Harry to his feet but before they could take a step, their path was blocked by the newlyweds.

"Harry I do hope you're enjoying yourself", Fleur kissed Harry on both cheeks, "thank you again for your thoughtful gift". She then turned her attention to Kim and kissed her cheeks as well, "And please thank your husband again for saving Bill's life".

"Oh it was nothing", Kim brushed it off, "he would've done the same thing for anyone".

"But still he has our thanks", Bill added, "I hear that you're something of an athlete yourself".

"Well I am a trained gymnast", the original pink ranger replied, "won gold at the Pan Global games but I damaged my ACL not long afterwards so I try to limit the amount I do but I still enjoy teaching".

"Then you should be a pretty good dancer" Bill offered his hand, "if I might have the honour". Kim smiled at the gesture, leaving Harry alone with the bride.

"Something's different about you", Fleur began, "Veela are creatures of fire by nature and we are extremely sensitive to other fire wielders".

Harry swallowed nervously, "I'm not sure what you mean Fleur".

The Frenchwoman tapped her finger against her chin, "Dragon fire", she mumbled, "that definitely wasn't present before".

"I didn't know that you studied me in that much detail", Harry chuckled, "your husband will be jealous".

"Friendly banter as well", Fleur frowned, "this is not the same Harry Potter I remember from the tournament".

"Perhaps this little boy has grown up", he said in a tone that was a little harsher than he intended. Suddenly he felt a warming sensation from his wrist, "Not now", he hissed and looking around, the rest of his team felt it too and were instantly on alert.

"Harry what's that", Fleur tapped his morpher that had appeared on his wrist.

Realising that the device was visible, he grasped the woman by the shoulders, "Something's coming this way Fleur, you either need to run or be prepared to fight". He immediately marched to the edge of the dance floor and met up with the rest of his team, leaving the bride trailing behind him.

"You felt it too?" Ginny asked the others.

Cho nodded, "Some very dark Chi is heading this way".

"Voldemort?" Dean asked.

Harry shook his head, "He wouldn't dare show his face but I bet he's sent his guard dogs instead".

Tommy and Kim noticed that the teens were huddled together and hurried in their direction, inadvertently dragging Bill, Mr and Mrs Weasley and the twins with them, "What's going on?" Tommy asked.

"Something dark's heading this way", Ron replied, "we've got less than a minute".

"Ron how can you possibly know that?" his mother asked.

"We were going to explain Mum", Ginny began, "but now we've run out of time".

The party was silenced by the appearance of a silver Patronus in the shape of a lynx. The booming voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke, " _Scrimegoeur is dead and the Ministry has fallen, they're_ _coming_ ".

Immediately the tent was filled with screaming and the sound of disapparation. Arthur's legs buckled slightly, signifying that the wards had fallen around the property. The only one's not panicking were the gathered rangers. They stood calmly in the middle of the room and waiting for the inevitable arrivals, "Harry, we need to get you out of here", Mrs Weasley tried to pull him away.

"Not this time", he pulled his arm back, "I'm not running this time".

The garden was almost immediately filled with Cedals, Death Eaters and to everyone's surprise, Severus Snape, "Potter", his former teacher snarled, "you're coming with me".

Harry stood tall and stared back in defiance. He then looked around at his team and the other three rangers and gave them a quick nod, "Welcome to the Weasley Delacour wedding", he said with a charming smile and pointed at the dance floor, "anyone care to dance?" Almost everyone was surprised with his reaction to the situation, "No, oh well", he shrugged and grabbed a silver tray off a nearby table. He threw it like a frizzbee and it slammed directly into Snape's nose.

"Wicked", the twins gasped in unison but they soon had to start ducking spell fire as the nine rangers darted in all directions.

Ginny leapt over the table and planted a kick into the face of a nearby Death Eater. She took off her heels and slammed them into the temple of a Cedal, stopping it in his tracks. A straight kick to the chest pushed another creature away from her mother. The white ranger stood protectively in front of her, "Mum go, I've got you covered", she bounced on the balls of her feet in a defensive stance.

"No Ginny a mother should protect her children", Mrs Weasley pulled out her wand and fired a stunner at a Death Eater, "not the other way around", the white ranger smiled and resumed her attack.

"I've got to tell you little brother", Fred said to Ron, "you've suddenly become a lot cooler in our book".

Ron snorted, "Only taken me seventeen years I suppose", he teamed up with Tommy with a few Cedals as their opponents. The original green ranger hit one with a tornado kick and it stumbled into Ron's path. The blue ranger kicked it straight in the stomach, pushing it back into its friends.

"We can't keep this up forever", Cho dodged under a punch from a Cedal and kicked it in the back. Hermione followed up with an axe kick, permanently disabling it, "We gonna have to morph".

The yellow ranger sighed and nodded, preparing her morphers, "Kim I think it's time", she called out and flashed her wrists.

"Two seconds", the original pink ranger replied, "I need to take care of these two first". A pair of Cedals was trying to menace the newlyweds but Kim wasn't going to allow that. She took a couple of paces and flipped into the air, landing a kick on the head of one of the attackers in the process. With one left she executed a backflip kick, stunning the Cedal. She picked up a chair and smashed it over the creatures head. Satisfied with her work, she gave the couple a quick smile, "Stick around you're going to like this part".

Whilst the battle was going on around them, Harry and Snape kept circling each other like a couple of prize fighters. Neither had attempted an attack yet, they seemed content to see what their opponent was going to do. "This must be a dream come true for you", Harry began, "an opportunity to attack the one person you hate more than anything".

"You know nothing Potter", Snape spat, "you and your multi coloured friends have no idea what's in store for you". The battle fell into a temporary lull, all of the Death Eaters had been either incapacitated or had fled. The remaining Cedals fell behind their General waiting for the order to attack again. The other rangers stood fell into line around Harry, "I see you've brought some backup from the colonies".

"I think we've shown what we can do", Tommy replied.

Snape didn't respond, instead his body began to undergo a transformation. His skin paled to a metallic silver except around his arms where bulging arm muscles tore through his robes. His hands were red with several red streaks running up the length of his arms. Two giant red wings sprouted from his back and flapped in expectation, "Now he really is a bat", Ron snorted.

Behind them members of the Order were shouting at them to get away but Harry simply ignored them, "Everyone ready", he called, "Mystic Squadron, Transform".

"White Ranger, Tiger Power"

"It's Morphin' Time, Dragonzord".

"Pterodactyl"

There was absolute silence for a moment, only punctured by an exclamation of "Bloody hell", from the twins. With their big secret revealed, it was time to take their former teacher back to school.


	29. Bat Out of Hell

_Chapter 29 - Bat Out Of Hell_

 ** _Previously -_** _Behind them members of the Order were shouting at them to get away but Harry simply ignored them, "Everyone ready", he called, "Mystic Squadron, Transform"._

 _"White Ranger, Tiger Power"_

" _It's Morphin' Time, Dragonzord"._

" _Pterodactyl"_

 _There was absolute silence for a moment, only punctured by an exclamation of "Bloody hell", from the twins. With their big secret revealed, it was time to take their former teacher back to school._

"Alright here's the plan", Harry began, "we'll handle the big guy can you two take care of the Cedals?"

"You can count on us", Kim answered for her husband.

The red ranger then turned to the few Order member's who had remained, "If any of them get through, magic won't work. You need to physically harm them to stop them". He turned around but then added, "Oh and you might want to duck".

His hand began to glow and he threw a ball of fire at Snape. The bat like creature brought his wings out in front of his body and intercepted the attack. The rest bite didn't last long as Cho and Ron jumped in with their Star Rods. They specifically targeted the wings, hoping to put them out of commission. The blue ranger swung his rod in an upward motion, impacting an area that would normally be soft on a regular bat. This one was a little different, "It's like hitting something solid", Ron groaned.

"Then try hitting it harder", the pink ranger snapped and pulled out her blaster. She fired off some point blank shots but like Ron moments ago, found that nothing seemed to damage the wings. Snape became bored of their attempts and thrust his wings outwards, the sharp edges catching them on the chest. They tumbled to the ground with sparks pouring off their suits.

In the corner of the room, the Order member could only watch as the teens battle against a seemingly unbeatable opponents, "My poor babies", Mrs Weasley sobbed. She was about to rush to help them but a gloved hand grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned her head and looked into the dark visor of the green ranger, "Please you have to let me go".

"I wouldn't advise that Mrs Weasley", Tommy began, "your magic won't be able to hurt that thing".

"How is that possible?" Professor McGonagall asked in her usual Scottish brogue.

"Look we're not familiar with the entire story", Kim called out but she was getting backed towards a table by a group of Cedals, "hold that thought". She backflipped onto the top of the table, summoning her Power Bow in the process. The second she landed the pink ranger unleashed a volley of arrows at the Cedals, stopping them permanently, "Sorry about that", she slung the weapon over her shoulder, "as I was saying you'll have to ask them once they've dealt with that overgrown bat".

George blinked a few times at the pink ranger, "I think I'm in love".

"Sorry but she's already spoken for", Tommy said, slicing through a Cedal in the process. He took a few seconds to check on the other rangers but it wasn't going well. Snape was overpowering them, just like the over generals did in Angel Grove, "We need to help them".

Kim though shook her head, "I don't want to say it but they need to work out their own strategy. We won't always be around to assist".

"You're right", Tommy added. The footsoldiers kept coming and there seemed no end in sight, "Maybe its time to try this out", he grabbed his morpher, quickly switching the coins, "Zeo Ranger Five, Red", he called and morphed in the red Zeo ranger ranger, "Kim give me your Blade Blaster". The pink ranger didn't even pause to question her husband and threw her weapon in his direction. He pulled out his Zeo blaster and handed a weapon each to the twins, "Can you cover us", he twisted the Blade Blaster into blaster mode, "it's real simple, just point and fire".

Fred grabbed the weapon and gave the red ranger a salute, "The famous Weasley twins at your service Sir".

"Great, this can't end badly at all", Tonks groaned under her breath.

The Mystic Squadron were huddling behind a table, trying to catch their breath. Snape was equally as strong as Bellatrix and Dolohov had been but neither of them had an impenetrable shield to break through, "This isn't working", Hermione panted.

"What gave you that idea?" Dean groaned, "nothing we throw at this guy has any effect".

"Where have you gone?" Snape chuckled dryly, "where's that famous Gryffindor courage gone to".

"Hey I was a Ravenclaw", Cho shouted back, "If only we could get him airborne, then we'd see how good his wings are".

Suddenly Ron snapped his fingers, "That's it", he said to the others, "I think I've got a way to beat him".

Snape was becoming bored waiting for the Rangers to show their faces. He was about to join his Cedals when the green ranger suddenly stood up from his hiding place, "Twenty points from Gryffindor for your stupidity Mr Thomas", he laughed and fired a black ball of energy at the green ranger. Snape watched it approach the green ranger but to his surprise it went straight through his body, "What!" he exclaimed.

He didn't get long to reflect on this as something sliced through his back, damaging his wings. He slowly turned around, only to get a face full of blaster from the yellow ranger. His injured wings couldn't react in time and the shots hit him straight in the chest. To his annoyance the real green ranger was standing next to him, "Forgot about the illusion thing didn't you _Professor"_ , Dean sneered, "now who feels stupid".

Snape was about to attack the impudent ranger but he was suddenly swept up in a powerful tornado. The pink column of air tore through the fabric of the tent, blowing Snape high into the night sky, "Now this feels very satisfying", Cho smiled underneath her helmet.

"I think that should be enough", Ron added, "lets see if this bat can fly". Cho cut the tornado, leaving Snape flapping around in the air. He was struggling but unfortunately he was just about staying in the air, "That's a shame, I was looking forward to him crashing", Ron sighed, "oh wait I can do this". He clenched his fist and swung his arm towards the ground, capturing Snape in a powerful gravitational field. The professor was dragged to the ground at tremendous speed and his body make a crater on impact.

A very groggy Snape clawed his way out of the hole in the ground, only to come face to face with the red and white rangers. The red ranger had his swords in hand and they were charged up with his fire Chi power, "This is for Albus Dumbledore", he said and swung the blades towards the fallen Snape. Almost on auto pilot the bat creature turning into a column of black smoke and disappeared into the sky. Harry's attack missed and he rammed his sword into the ground in frustration, "Damn it", he swore.

"Don't worry, we'll get him next time", Ginny placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah you're right", Harry replied just as the others arrived, "good plan Ron and well executed everyone".

The rangers powered down and headed back for the tent, "I don't know about you but I could sleep for a couple of days after that", Dean stretched his muscles.

"You're not the only one", Hermione replied, "I wouldn't mind having a relaxing soak".

The rangers laughed but they immediately stopped when they stepped inside the tent. The Cedals were gone but in their place was something much more terrifying, several extremely angry and confused members of the Order of the Phoenix, "Oh yeah I forgot about them", Harry commented. A part of the tent fell down in between the two groups, "I'll pay for the damage", he added.

"I think that you owe us all an explanation", Mr Weasley said.

Over the next half an hour, the Mystic Squadron recounted how they came into their powers and what they had been doing over the last few months. They covered off their time in Angel Grove, including what they had been battling when Remus and Tonks met up with them. They also touched on their mission for the Horcruxes but didn't go into too much detail, the less they knew about that the better.

"So just to recap", Tonks began, "the six of you control some ancient form of magic", the teens nodded, "and You-Know-Who and his followers have the power of this evil Gormal tribe and have been using it to unleash monsters on the country".

"Sounds crazy I know but it's all true", Hermione replied.

"Why you lot", Professor McGonagall asked, "what makes you six so special?"

"Bloodlines ironically", Cho answered her former teacher, "the five of us are descended from the original warriors that defeated the Gormal six thousand years ago. Our element power only manifests itself in one individual per generation".

"So this power was in our family", Fred began.

"And for some reason it chose Ron", George finished for him.

"I can't believe it myself sometimes", Ron deadpanned.

"But no one on my side of the family had the same power that Ron did", Mr Weasley stated, "and I don't think Molly did either".

"That's because without someone to train you from a young age it can lay dormant", Cho began, "I was lucky that my Uncle trained me as a child because we were aware of our heritage. As the others didn't know about their power, it didn't manifest itself until a point of severe stress".

"And what about Ginny", Remus asked, "I thought this Chi Power could only appear one in a generation".

"My power is different", the white ranger began, "because it was an unclaimed power back in ancient times, it could be claimed by anyone Saba deemed worthy regardless of ancestry".

"Saba?" Mrs Weasley frowned.

"Yeah my sword", she held out her hand and the aforementioned Saba appeared, "say hello to everyone".

"A pleasure to meet you", Saba began.

"It talked", Mr Weasley stammered.

"Of course I can talk", Saba replied with an indignant tone, "why is everyone surprised to learn that I can talk?"

"This is all getting too much for me", Mrs Weasley stood up and began to pace, "ancient magic, talking swords, giant metal creatures". She stood up and began to shake her head, "I need to think about this but I don't like it", Mrs Weasley sat down again.

"What's there to think about", Ginny began, "we're the only one's who can use these powers and it's up to us to stop Voldemort and the Gormal from taking over the world".

"Watch your tone young lady", Mrs Weasley snapped.

"I will not watch my tone mother", the red haired teen spat, "we've got a job to do whether you or anyone else likes it or not", with that she stormed off back to the house.

"I'll go see if she's alright", Hermione ran after her, eager to get away from the interrogation.

"I'm sorry but this is a lot to take onboard", Remus said for the group.

Harry sighed, "And it's not for us", he slowly stood up, "look it's been a long night, we'll talk about this more another time". He traipsed back up the garden towards the Burrow, closely followed by the rest of his team.

"They're good kids", Tommy said once they had left, "I fully believe they can destroy the Gormal".

"But as you said, they're just kids", Professor McGonagall replied.

"So were we when we first became rangers", Kim began, "try not to push them away", she added, "because they know what they need to do and they're going to do it whether you like it or not". With nothing further to say the two Americans headed for the house, leaving the Order with a lot of information to process and a lot of thinking to do.


End file.
